NfaN, Book 2: THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT
by KairiVenomus
Summary: Sequel to SHADOW DANCER:Since Kai has joined the Shadow Dancers in the race to possess the all powerful Shadow Key, the remaining ninja must overcome the horrific obstacles Kai has placed in order to slow them down: their worst fears. The clock ticks down as the Great Battle nears, & Lloyd is faced with an inquest: Will he be able to slay his own brother in order to save the world?
1. PROLOGUE

**THE WORLDWIDE PREMIERE OF THE SEQUEL TO **_**SHADOW DANCER**_**:**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_Prologue: Ungodly Hour_

The ground reeked of death, its pores clogged by the dust of decaying corpses, a tomb left in the past, forgotten relics hidden among th ashes. Barely a sliver of firelight can penetrate the great darkness, a doom strewn across the small, cluttered room. The echoes of previous events glimmer across the sparkling jewels hidden in the dark. There is no human, mortal intelligence throughout the tomb, but there is an invisible knowledge lingering in the air, unspoken turmoil of the balance's tipping stealing like a ghost in the air. The scale has been tipped, the balance shifted, and fate decided. These events are only the beginning, only the uprising to the greatest battle time has ever known, the battle that is the grand finale to the world's demise. It would be settled between brothers once been: the fated fall of one, the victorious rise of another. It was as the Golden Scrolls of Gilden foretold. These scrolls so deviously hidden beneath the sands of the desert, beneath the ruins of the lost city of Oroboros, a condemned property ruined by the Devourer's reign. This unreachable tomb holds many a treasure: rubies, sapphires, priceless gold encased in bejeweled cases made of the finest steel—these are wonders a poor man could only dream of, but never grasp. Warriors have searched for the Lost Tomb throughout the dimensions of time, but have never been able to discover, until eventually sinking into the false hope that it never existed. Though their discoverer would become the richest being ever known, this tomb was not sought for its jewels. Desperation in search was most centered around the one, precious encumbrance beneath the many goods, wrapped in silk, encased in a thick, black box, insurance this artifact be kept safely. This was what they usually wanted most: the Shadow Key.

But one thing none knew of, its information a mystery to those who didn't understand, was that not any mere commoner could wield the weapon created as the greatest artifact ever manufactured, forged by dark magic. It was far too great for just any man to grasp. The powers encircled in its log, thin staff of gold would burn straight through a normal man's hand. The thin, sharp, triangular point of the end, often used as a defensive weapon, would cut through his flesh so quickly, so swiftly he'd be dead before he understood the cause of his demise. And the large, thick, heavy red ruby, pulsing at the head, strapped to the staff by golden fingers curled around the jewel, encoded powers far, far too strong for a mortal to harness. Its evil, dark purpose would incinerate him to dust almost instantaneously. It was a fatal weapon.

And only one could use it, activate it's true powers, unleashing the demons into the world in hopes to completely destroy humanity.

Unknowingly he acted that day, unaware of the tag he pulled off the grenade. He looked normal, acted normal, talked as though he belonged to this section of the world he no longer was welcome to inhabit. This was a man who knew of his place, even if it did not match up correctly with others. Hidden beneath the hood of his jacket to avoid the raindrops gently cascading from above, he located the familiar flashing sign atop the small, oppressed building, cowering between two skyscrapers. as people hurry past him, he caught their eyes ignorantly, a half smirk sewn to his red lips. This is a man who has chosen his side.

Turned by the darkest evil, he was consumed in black when he accepted their welcoming offer. The thick black cloud had consumed him, filling his soul with the wickedest of thoughts, the hungry need for revenge. He felt better once his true self was unleashed against the world. His body had glowed with a blood red light so intense, even the creatures of the shadows had to shield their eyes. It was...a beautiful feeling, freedom to be himself.

But when the cloud had disappeared, he'd felt no better than he had once he'd stepped in. The dull, rhythmic thud of his heart held no sign of the immense power he'd righteously experienced. he'd spun, enraged by the robbery of his power, an angry burst of confidence his only ally in the greatness he had enterprised. The men hidden in the shadows had stared at him with almost a bored expression, until the leader of the cloak had sighed at his puny threats, producing from below Its deep, midnight cloak a blade, short, thin, but powerful, weighing it in Its hand, claiming the weight to the steely substance was almost ironic. Then, with a serious look on his face he'd declared the transition had begun...

...and shoved the blade deep into the man's heart.

The body was long gone now; there was no redemption from the basement of all basements It had condemned the man's body to. The form he donned now was corporeal to wandering eyes, but there was only the boldfaced colors of his visibility to tell others he was there, even if he wasn't. His green eyes swept the area around him before pushing open the glass double doors into the florescent-lit comic book shop, a doom following close behind him, almost as though a shadow. But if one looked hard enough they'd be able to see: he had no shadow, for he was one himself.

He noticed the group of boys gathered around a thin, paperback copy of a superhero based comic. He glanced to the front desk, where the clerk busied himself humming a familiar tune while he clicked at something vigorously on his computer, unfazed.

The man walked towards the boys. They glanced up, startled as he leaned down to their small height. He made sure to glance into each of their eyes as he spoke in a low, soothing voice: "You're going to leave now and forget you were ever here," he said monotonically. Then, after a moment, they nodded, returned the comic, and left.

He flipped the WE'RE OPEN! sign to SORRY, we're CLOSED.

The clerk glanced up at him. "What's—" He began, but the man removed his hood, revealing his identity raw. "Kai!" gasped the clerk, his grin spreading, expanding his beard and mustache. "My favorite ninja of fire! What brings you here?"

"Hello, Rufus," Kai said gently, fingering the form beneath his jacket. "I need to ask a...favor."

"Sure!" Rufus agreed brightly, eagerly leaning forward. "What can I do for you?"

Kai pursed his lips. "You know the ancient language of the Shadow Dancers. Decode this map for me" —he held it outwards, the shock playing with Rufus' features— "and I'll let you live."

"Look," Rufus pushed away the outstretched scroll, a grimace on his face. "I love Lloyd and all, but I already told him I won't do it."

"This isn't about Lloyd. This is about what _I_ want." Kai set down the scroll. "I gave you a chance. Now, you've wasted it. Pity." Kai removed the smaller form concealed beneath his jacket, the thin, small dagger stained with his blood. Rufus' face poured horror. He tried to bargain, make a deal with Kai, but he wasn't interested. He cornered the large man behind his own desk, twirling the blade in his hands, an everlasting whisper of murder written on its hilt. He smiled. Then, with the blooming shouts for help muted by Kai's dark magic, he murmured the silent prayer, a final parting farewell to the unfortunate store clerk, and lunged for his throat, carving out the warning to the incessant ninja who'd surely hear about this quickly into the skin of Rufus' arm, strewn across his face, warm blood tainting Kai's fingertips. It tasted sweet, salty; his sadistic heart trembled with the excitement when he reread his creation:

_One ruled by childish fears, destroyed by a child itself,_

_One made indestructible but ruined by heat!_

_One bound by the sins of desire,_

_One gone black by murder, once sweet! _

_Expiration is nearing, dear brothers and sister; and I shall be the one to cause your dying flames…_

**Did you like it? Let me know what you think of the premiere of THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT, guys! :D And thank you for reading like the wonderful fans you are! The next chapter will hopefully be posted soon- -although no promises can be made that it will also be showed **_**tonight…**_


	2. CHAPTER 1: TWITTERPATED & SICK

**Hey! Sorry this took so long to upload! :D **

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_1. Twitterpated & Sick _

"The Bounty Two's descent will begin shortly! Please ensure that all flyaway objects are tied down; our descent can get kind of...iffy." Angus' sweet, childish voice came over the intercom, an unseen rumble from above. "Our travel to find Cole is taking longer than we expected, due to a rerouting after spotting a cloud of a military base below. Antsy people beware...there are LOT of those around here. Hobbies should be discovered to pass the time. Thats all!"

Lloyd couldn't locate the proper speaker in which it came from, but he had to admit, he'd jumped a little when it was suddenly the deemed the icebreaker of the century.

Gathered round the long, mahogany based table were people one short of a dozen, a mixture of faces, backgrounds, and becomings, people different in the magnificence of uniqueness, but seemingly all wore the same grim, sorrowful expression, a painted sadness on their faces. It was nothing far short of grim realizations sparking to life inside each of them, a sudden understanding becoming a heartbreaking shock. Lloyd hung his head. Though they'd have liked to be seen, Mr. and Mrs. Garmadon were nowhere to be found. That, he knew, was his fault, and he didn't blame them for avoiding him. He would've avoided himself too.

But the reason of these grim faces gathered in the dining hall had nothing to do with Mr. and Mrs. Garmadon's reason for being MIA. These faces were grim because everyone was staring at the screen of the equipment room through the supervisional glass window dividing the rooms, witnessing again and again as the screen repeated itself that it couldn't find Kai Xavier Smiths.

Kai was gone.

"I just don't get it," murmured Jay, fresh, clean, and smelling of soap. His red hair clung slickly to his forehead. Beside him sat Nya, with her face crestfallen, her cheek crushed against his shoulder, a shade above white. "How can he be just GONE? There's no way he got any further away than we did..."

"The answer to your question can only be given if one understands the solution himself," Zane murmured quietly. Since the ninja had been saved from the deathly grasp of the desert, Zane had been refurnished to his full health, the story of his overheating making Lloyd sick to his stomach. The poor nindroid had practically been killed out there, by the most natural source known to man: the sun. With the homicidal sun now blocked by the roof of the Bounty 2 over their heads, Zane looked fresher, a newborn droid to the call of time. Despite the situation, he had a smile on his face, his old intents since Wu's death reimbursing from the depths of depression, a concave grip on the conflicting grasp of his heart. He wanted to be the peacekeeper, the —with all due respect to Zane, Lloyd had to say it—motherly affection taking him over. Kudos to Zane for still being Zane.

And, with Cole and Kai gone—well, there was no one left for Lloyd to describe other than Nya, who he wasn't too sure was in the best of cohorts with Jay. Something had happened between them, words spoken, mumbles breathed that would put them on two completely different pages. Two pages, one dyed black and the other painted white. Lloyd hadn't asked, but he noticed the tension between them jus as much as the next guy. He'd found himself exchanging glances with Zane. He didn't want them to be brimming the verge of a breakup of one of the relationships he was actually SUPPORTIVE of—he wasn't usually into picking teams—because he was pretty sure that then, the atmosphere he'd already screwed up so badly would become a black cloud.

He knew he didn't deserve to have this, this relationship with these people he loved more than life itself. He didn't deserve it at all. With the weight of a murder setting his shoulders in a sloped, opposite angular fashion, he felt that there was no hope for him. Once they found Kai and brought him home, Lloyd would be hightailling it for the road. He didn't belong with these good, loving people.

The people he'd broken.

"I just don't get it!" repeated Jay, frustrated, huffing out air by the gallon. Lloyd pressed his cheek into his palm, tracing the pattern of a squirrel into the laminated wood of the mahogany. "Where did he GO?"

"It is uncertain," said a low, automatic voice from the end of the table. The auburn-haired girl stood above them all, her black, clingy suit twinkling under the fluorescents above in the dangling lamps shaped like bowls. Attached to her hip was a thick black belt, a revolver shoved into the side, and sheathed knives lining her legs. She looked to Lloyd like she could kick some serious ninja butt. It made him almost afraid. Almost.

He peered sideways a Zane. The nindroid had straightened his posture upon the second robot's arrival, a pleasant smile painted to his face. His blue eyes shimmered. Lloyd gave a heavy sigh. Twitterpated, and they'd only been here fourteen minutes. It was tragic. He didn't understand, really; maybe it was because the others had been on this earth far longer than he had, since technically Lloyd hadn't aged a day over ten, and they understood girls better. He thought girls were still as gross as they were before. All manifested with cooties and such, it made him gag whenever he saw Jay and Nya liplocked in the hallway, right in front of the bathroom every morning on the original Bounty, with a thin towel wrapped around Jay's waist, the rest of his skin slick as oil. He'd grumble for minutes on end until one of them noticed that he REALLY HAD TO PEE and they'd move, murmuring an apology, even though Lloyd knew that they weren't, just so they could go make out in their bedroom some more.

It made him frown. Zane was the last ninja he'd believe would be interested in girls. In fact, Lloyd always thought it would come down to him and Zane, the two brothers left behind as they were brutally betrayed by the other three as they married girls right and left. If he wasn't in the middle of one of the most blatantly stressful moments of his life, he'd have gagged aloud.

It was always obvious Kai was the one who liked girls the most. He would've drooled every time he saw one if it hadn't lowered his risks of being noticed by one. And Cole came a pretty close second, but he wasn't flying through sadism like Kai had been, bound by the enchanting Everglades above all physically real emotions in his heart, one called the Ego. Everyone else stacked up as expected: Jay, because obviously he was in love with Nya; Zane, because Lloyd saved himself for last. He knew he'd never like girls. Never get married, either. Man, if they ever came up to him and started flirting or whatever it is that Jay said Kai was overdoing purposelessly all the time, Lloyd would go berserk.

He raised his ears from inside the shell of his mind, only hearing his thoughts, as the girl, who he overheard was called "Caroline," spoke of something about a little village where Cole was being hidden. At least he's safe, Lloyd thought thankfully. Unless he was being tortured. Then that would be a problem.

With the crossing of his ankles, Lloyd examined the Tinkerer, the old fraying Caucasian sitting at the head of the table, looking pleased as Caroline took up a friendly conversation of internal maps with Zane. Zane seemed to be overly acceptable that Caroline was having a smile on her face as they interacted. It was robo-ism working its fatalistic magic on each other, playing it by ear. He face-palmed. He couldn't help it. This whole situation was just so...STUPID. Everything he'd done, the darkness he'd been through, forging his way through the remands of the vile, murderous sicknesses and battles of death, suffering though committing crimes, barely stumbling though the hurt he felt inside his small body—it made his head spin. It was a plain, simple word that didn't fit the context of life at all, but summed it up in perfect pitches: it was just STUPID.

Suddenly Nya stood, almost knocking over her chair. She was white. "Oh, God," she gasped, before taking off through the archway of an exit.

Fear channeled Lloyds body. She was white. She was WHITE. "Jay," he said desperately. Jay paused mid-stand. "What's wrong with Nya? Is she, is she—"

"She's fine," he said crisply, his eyes flat. "She's totally fine."

He began to leave, but Lloyd didn't think fine was a good enough description. Had he poisoned Nya, too? Desperation creeped through his bones, a shivering tingle of fear at its utmost fearful. "Jay, that's not—"

"Look, I know what it is, and it's not Arachnaeus, alright?" Jay whirled, a step away from leaving. He stared at Lloyd tiredly, his shoulders sloping. Lloyd realized then how old Jay must feel, with the scenarios he'd lived through. It made Lloyd feel even more guilty. Then without another word, Jay quietly slipped from the room, a ghost of stress and muted happiness, a victim of the world, before Lloyd even got the chance to so much as breathe a question involving what it was that was making Nya an albino.

**Please review, and have a great day! (I'm on a tight schedule, can't say much more!)**


	3. Chapter 2: SAMOKAI'S VILLAGE

**Hey, everyone! :) **

**How are you guys? Good? Great? Well I am! I've got some announcements for you! Firstly, I have to clarify some stuff for you guys before I even THINK about letting you read this chapter! Some of you were kind of confused about who Lloyd killed. So, I'll tell you what happened: **

When Lloyd was talking to his parents on the Bounty 2, he revealed he'd "killed the wrong brother." In SHADOW DANCER, Wu wasn't featured anywhere because I'd killed him off. So the basic of the situation would be that when Lloyd arrived, he'd packed a bag of his clothes and stuff he wanted to take with him, right? Well, the black widow spider ended up climbing into his bag without him seeing, and he brought it aboard the Bounty (the first) with him. When it escaped, it bit 2 people, but first taking Wu's life before it eventually made its way to Kai. Which of course, no one knew that Wu was sick because Wu never would've told anyone anyway.  
So the phrase "killed the wrong brother" is having Lloyd admit to his parents that he knows he killed Wu, even if it was an accident, and that his first intention of ever buying the spider was so he could kill his father.  
Long story short: Lloyd wanted to kill Garmadon, but it ended up going all wonky.

**Make a little sense now? :)**

**Secondly, a lot of you are wondering what's wrong with Nya! Well, if you're feeling particularily in for juicy information, and you want to have a little **_**"heads start," **_**shall I say, on the sitch…I'll give you a hint: Examine the last chapter of SHADOW DANCER veerrryyyy closely. Maybe you'll get it. Don't feel like waiting that long? Then you won't! Next chapter is going to be ****ALL ABOUT NYA AND MISAKO! **** So you can also look forward to eyeballing it tonight when I post it (after writing it) (hopefully.)**

**And third: The majority of THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT will be featured through Lloyd & Kai's POV, with minor character switches (I.E. Zane, Jay, Nya, Caroline, Garmadon(?) ETC…)**

**That's all for now, but ENJOY this chapter! :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_2. Samokai's Village _

Zane handed Lloyd the sword, even though there really was no reason for him to possess such a priceless weapon. Or any weapon, for that matter. With the elements coursing through his body, their fine charisma pouring out Lloyd's aura with such pulsating force it almost put Zane to his knees, he wouldn't need any kind of blunt traumatic, agony bearing weapon. No, Lloyd himself was the weapon; that much Zane knew.

He took the shurikens from his father's hands next, attaching them to his belt swiftly. Julien gave him a soft smile. "Dont do it now," he said shakily, "but in the buttons at the cuff you'll find an extra...surprise."

Zane smiled lovingly. How he had missed his father, a nightmare to his desert-condemned self had to suffer through consistently, the ever-deathly overheating forcing him to think of the worst. But father had come for him. As he always would. It was a pride to Zane to see that this really was who loved him most.

They didn't have their beloved ninja suits; the last time they'd donned them, they were soaked in the guts of the Overlord. That time was long gone now. Instead, they varied for the usual, more casual approach: jeans, t-shirts, and a thick black sweatshirt posted on Lloyd, practically every inch of his body covered by clothing. Zane couldn't bear the thought of wearing one in such dank, hot, humidly heavy weather. The unseen net of sunblock still hovered over him. It didn't make sense where this strange gift had come from. He was still piecing the puzzles together.

"It is an unbearable one hundred seven degrees," he stated. Julien and Lloyd turned to him. To Zane's surprise, Lloyd was shivering, his shoulders pulled up to his ears. "How can you be cold in such weather, Lloyd?"

Lloyd snuffed. "The Arachnaeus screwed up my temperatures. Unbearably hot is unbearably cold and unbearably cold is unbearably hot."

Zane frowned, working the equation into his head; but no definite response from his systems could answer him quick enough. "I...do not understand," he admitted.

Lloyd gave a small smile, despite the story in his eyes. "It's a sick person thing."

Speaking of sick people.

Jay's slight form countered the corner of Zane's eye. Expectant, he turned to see the ninja of lighting clad in a blue tee, shaggy over his shoulders. Zane guessed it was a belonging of Angus'; the robot boy was much wider and muscular than Jay could manage. Jay caught the stare of the nindroid with a startled glance. "What?" he asked. He noticed the eyes of not just Zane, but Lloyd, Julien, AND the arriving Caroline's as he scanned the circle among him. A crimson rose to his cheeks.

"Nya?" offered Lloyd.

"Oh!" Jay gave a small, useless laugh, a nervous, charter rig sound from deep in his throat. Zane sensed his uncomfortable tension from the rising pitch in his voice. "She's, uh, fine. Misako's staying with her."

Lloyd's eyes widened in fear.

"She's got the flu," Jay said, insistently, urgently. He glanced away from anyone before he could catch the eyes of the skeptics around him. Zane could sense a—

"I sense you are—"

"Whoops gonna jump off a flying boat now BYE!" There were no spaces between Jays words as he stole the nunchucks from Juliens hand and flung himself over the side, hurdling right for the village Cole was located in below them, his urgency disabling him from hearing the message Julien wanted to relay.

With a sigh, the tinkerer rearranged the bifocals perched on his nose, taking a long, delayed blink. No one spoke of the instance, but there were unspoken whispers between them, questions, queries, and finally statements. Zane would've frowned if he had that much human in him.

"I should tell you the village is well armed and completely dangerous." Caroline cocked her hip to the side, blinking. She had a blank, impassive expression on her face, one Zane mirrored now. He didn't quite know how he felt about his father's growing army of mechanics. The jury, is to say, was still out.

"You'll need to be on your guard," continued Caroline. "My senses tell me they're pretty legitimate in martial arts."

"Greeaatt," sarcastically muttered Lloyd, awkwardly clutching the sword's red hilt in his hand, unsure of what to do with it. "Just what I needed."

"It will stretch your muscles," Caroline said honestly.

It squeezed a laugh out of Zane. It was humor that made Lloyd's eyebrows raise. But Zane thought it was funny. Jay had told him funny things "tickle the laughter out of you," in which a sensation Zane had experienced as Caroline had spoken, forcing the laughter out of his system. It brought a startled glance to Caroline's face, but then she began laughing too, a high pitched sound of bells, the tinkling of true laughter ringing though the air. Zane felt the tickling feeling in his stomach again.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "I'm out of here," he announced. Then, he leapt over the side, forcing the dramatics out of the flip he did to worsen the situation.

Julien frowned. "Everyone is being so peculiar," he murmured, rubbing his forehead. He waved at Zane with his free hand. "Go now, son," he said breathlessly, his eyes shutting. Zane wanted to reach for him, comfort his faint nauseating feeling that he could sense with every fiber of his being, but Caroline had already taken his place, wrapping an arm around him.

"Come," she whispered. "Let's go take your medicine, father." Then, to Zane, she commanded: "Retrieve your friend and return as quickly as possible. No silly-dallying. We need to move. Time is short. Go!"

Zane nodded, raising his hand to his head in a mock solute. Then, with the steel toe of his thick black boot, he propelled himself off the edge of the Bounty 2, a spiraling white mass plummeting towards earth.

LLOYD

Jay and Lloyd leaned against the back of a sharp, peaked gray rock, playing for cover, when Zane landed with speculated grace neatly on his feet in front of them, a plummet that probably would've turned Lloyd into a pile of bones. Zane made it look like he was a gentle, experienced ballerina. Exchanging a glance with Jay, he watched Zane saunter towards them, the tips of his shurikens peeking from beneath the breathable cloth cover of Zane's T-shirt.

Lloyd tugged his hood further into the self-made cave in which concealed his face, shadowing his dilated green eyes from the sun.

Jay peered around the corner at the steel, heavily locked gates of the ill aged village before them. "A little much for a little village, don't ya think?" Lloyd grumbled as he peered around Jay's shoulders, his eyes drinking in the seventy-foot tall brick walls, the spiders crawling viscously along the fraying plaster, and the icing of the cake: the spikes clinging to the rafters of the climax of the walls, the rungs of the gate. Overshadowing the large, three-times-the-size-of-Lloyd-far-and-wide lock dangling to the two gates forced together in a rough jam was a talisman. The engraving of a skeletal face into the circular coin growled down on the ninja. Fangs protruded from the canine's perches.

Lloyd shivered. "I wonder what's the deal with this place," Jay said quietly. His eyes scoured the barracks for a dent in the security.

"Maybe there aren't real people inside," offered Lloyd shakily. "Maybe they're trying to hide the world's biggest supply of mint gum."

While Zane peered curiously down at him, Jay rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound like me."

Zane's eyes unfocused. "Perhaps there is another way inside," he said distantly.

"Yeah, right. Like these guys are going to keep a window for the passengers to stare out of. You SEE the size of that wall, right? Not to mention the size of those spiders?" Lloyd swallowed the bile in his throat. "It looks like this place was meant to keep someone—or someTHING—in."

"And everything else out," added Jay.

Zane's distant gaze remained. He didn't respond, standing ramrod straight, his pink lips parted in a thoughtful manner. It was minutes before Zane ever gave any sign that he was still alive. Jay and Lloyd could've stared at him until their faces turned blue; there was no mistaking the way he wasn't seeing anything at all.

The Falcon screeched from above, hovering over the front gate as it devoured the scene in search of a means of entering. Lloyd couldn't help but smile. He hadn't seen the falcon in so long!

"I have missed you, old friend," murmured Zane as his eyes regained the image or he world in reality, holding out his arm as a perch for the descending bird. It squawked in Lloyd's direction, forcing him to recoil at its hooked beak.

"Did it—I mean, you—see anything?" Jay asked excitedly, leaning forward in anticipation. Zane smiled patiently.

"There are people," he announced, "living inside of this fortress. Hundreds. Thousands. Little homes are scattered around." Zane paused, thinking for a moment. "Then, in the center, is this huge monastery."

"Monastery?" repeated Jay. His eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "Now WHY would there be a monastery?"

Zane looked uncomfortable, digging the toe of his boot into the ashen sand beneath his feet, a baking glass waiting to become. "Well...you didn't let me finish," he said quietly.

"So finish!"

"I saw Cole," he said quickly, his eyes flickering to the gate and back.

A smile returned to Jay's face, brightening his cheeks. "That's great! Was he ok?"

Zane sighed.

"Oh jeez," Lloyd muttered.

"He looked fine," said Zane, "but I fear that what I saw was not, well...Cole."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" shrieked Jay, throwing his small arms into the air. Filling his cheeks with air, he blew it all out, making raspberrying noises as he did. Lloyd sidestepped to avoid being hit by spit.

"There was someone else, too."

"You know I hate suspense! TELL ME!"

Zane took a breath. "By Cole's side was not someone we are...fond of." He admitted. "Cole was accompanied by—"

There was a large crack and the rev of a very large, undoubtedly terrifying vehicle from behind them. Each of them froze. Hearts pounding to the wish of death of silence, the ninja stared at each other, unwilling to move. "WHO'S OUT THERE?" yelled a large, authoritative voice.

Oh, crap.

When there was no response, there was a few clatters, followed by the descent of whatever angry mechanical beast the capturers had ridden. Lloyd slowly unsheathed the sword. Jay untucked his nunchucks from beneath his shirt. And Zane unhooked his shurikens.

Jay held up his fingers in a silent 1, 2, 3...But never finished.

"Go find the intruders-to-be Knuckles claimed to have heard," said the voice.

"Yes, sir!"

Lloyd froze at the sound of true voice, a voice of someone who was a follower, a slave to the authorities commanding him. They could hear him getting closer to their rock, their safe refuge; when the footsteps were near enough a simultaneous agreement was dispatched through the air. Zane, Jay, and Lloyd lept from the gentle cover of the rock, revealing their identities to the authority and his henchman.

Jay was already equipped with a witty remark. "Prepare to—"

His quip was cut short by a mangled gasp, quick to answer with Zane and Lloyd's responding noises of surprise.

Before them stood a samurai, dressed in the outfit of olden times, an outfit Lloyd hadn't actually seen except for in museums. Holding his sword before him, the samurai examined them quickly without registering their identities, a fast moving, lithe man if Lloyd ever knew one. And he had, once. In fact, he knew him very well.

"Prepare to die," Cole threatened. His eyes shimmered green. And behind him, laughing like a maniac with all the money in the world, with every dime, every penny, and all the power was Samokai. Samokai, eyes green as the leaves on the trees that clearly did _not _exist in this district of Ninjago, and an army behind him, the hundred samurai warriors against three unfortunate, obviously unwilling to fight ninja.

Lloyd swallowed hard.

This was bad.

This was very, very bad indeed.

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'LL BET 98% of you didn't see that coming! :D**

**So, like I said before, the next chapter **_**will **_**be about Nya & Misako while the boys meet the new and improved Cole (or is it?) :) Please review, you guys know I love you for it, and go have an awesome rest of the night/day/evening/morning/luncheon or HOWEVER you wanna do it! :)**


	4. Chapter 3: MEMORIES OF LOVE

**I PROMISED the next chapter of TAOT, so here it is! You guys wanted to know what's wrong with Nya, so hopefully you'll now understand! :) Can't wait for you to read it! And since I don't want to post a note at the end, for several purposes: PLEASE REVIEW! :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_3. Memories of Love_

Jay had left her with a cold rag, warm fleece blanket, and a very soft, very gentle and _very _long kiss on the lips.

Nya's stomach churned again as she returned from the bathroom, slipping across the hall with that very fleece blanket wrapped around her shoulders, clinging to it as though it were her last hope in the middle of an ice age. She walked straight through the door with no interruptions because when she'd bolted, she'd left it swinging wide, a revelation of Misako lighting a bedside candle with a bowl of water at her side as she swished the wet rag around inside the liquid. It precariously trembled on the unstable bedside table—no doubt a craftsmanship of Angus, who Nya had learned _sucked _at using hand tools. (She'd gotten to know a lot about him quickly after she'd left Jay staring off the side of the boat in shock.)

Misako raised her large brown eyes, amplified by the lenses of her glasses. She looked tired and sad, but Nya didn't want to press the matter just yet. She'd already asked where Garmadon was, resulting in the most bitter she'd ever heard the wise old woman. "He's had things to do. Let it be."

"How are you feeling?" She asked sympathetically. Nya lowered herself onto the mattress, admittedly much more comfortable than the good-old time wracked mats on the bunkers of the _Bounty _original. She leaned her head against the cushion she'd set up against the wall to support herself, since lying down undoubtedly caused her inner turmoil to rise, a result in which she was still recovering from, as explained by the bathroom incident moments ago.

She shrugged, not knowing how to explain it, much less deal with this. It hadn't been a part of the plan. She hadn't—and yet, in a way, she _had—_intended for this to happen.

Misako squeezed the excess water from the rag, patting it gently against Nya's flaming forehead. "It isn't so bad," she murmured quietly, her gaze distant, as though Nya's temple was so interesting. For a weird, random moment, Nya thought about the way Jay loved to kiss her temple after they'd begun dating. He'd always called it, with the grace of a gentleman, his favorite place to kiss, the place where it seemed like his lips fit puzzedly to, if not to her own mouth. But the idea quickly shorn itself from her mind. Her temple was the last place on her body she needed to be worrying about.

"When I had my son, I hated it. Hated every moment of lugging him everywhere with me. I always thought he'd be fat." Misako gave a hoarse chuckle, dropping the rag. "He weighed so much, I reckoned. But he wasn't fat."

Nya smiled grimly.

"And I know," continued Misako, dipping the rag in water once more, disturbing the peaceful liquid's rest amongst itself, "that this is probably mortifying for you." Mortifying, Nya sighed to herself, didn't cover it. 'Mortifying' was an understatement. You were mortified when you found a snake in your bed, only to discover that it had all along been a planted, fickle joke, a false rubber toy slithering amongst your sheets, tangled in them. You were mortified when you caught your brother walking around in his underwear, a sight you'd never hope to see. Heck, you were mortified when you found out that your parents were actually two mates self-banished to hell, the king and queen of the hellion arising in flames beneath your feet, fire of all shades of the spectrum. _That _was mortified.

This, this godawful feeling Nya experienced now, was not _mortification. _It was trauma. Pure, coldblooded trauma, intoxicating her foggy thoughts with the promises of sheer horror, pain, agony, pain, fear, pain, and most of all, pain. This, Nya decided darkly, is _not mortified. _I am _horrified. _Shocked. Abashed. Afraid. All these emotions I just don't understand—

What would she _do? _

Jay, as earthly as he was, was a ninja. He traveled, he left the house, abandoning her to the shops where she and Sensei would wander aimlessly through when the Ninja spent their time out fighting battles. He fought, he played warrior, forcing her hand to stay on the emergency button, a _just in case _they needed a little help. There were ways that Jay operated life that Nya, she found, _didn't, couldn't, wouldn't. _She would be forced to do this alone. He'd be off, celebrating victory, and she'd be stuck, left behind to watch some wriggling, pink, screaming little thing in which she'd bore without wanting.

She'd been glad the Overlord was dead. And though it was hard to do, she'd been hopeful to leave the Bounty's deck, buy an apartment with all that spare money she'd scrounged up from her extra hours at the shop, again, while the boys were out. She had been excited. They would've stopped by the Tinkerer's, as promised, for Zane, and so they could learn a couple of things from the wise old one. But then they'd return to the city. That, Nya had believed, would be their _beginning. _

Not the end.

Suddenly, she hated herself. Jay wouldn't leave her like that! He loved her more than anything, never forcing his hand to her, always holding out his arm, always taking care of her even though she _didn't _need any. He was _perfect _just the way he was.

But…Nya had seen his face. She'd seen it go quickly from blissful happiness to utter, befuddled shock. Watched him stare out behind her without seeing, his irises fully visible to the on-looking audience of Nya, a crestfallen girl hoping he'd be excited for her, happy for her. She'd seen him. She had _seen _him.

Nya rubbed her eyes. She didn't know what the verdict of this horrific realization was. Gazing into Misako's honest, beautiful eyes, Nya realized this woman had life experience, understanding realms and worlds beyond what Nya barely could comprehend now. She understood the works of the system. She'd read the Sacred Scrolls foreboding Lloyd to his destiny. She'd conned her husband out of his stone-army controlling helmet. She'd dealt with having the hate of her son and the identity of her lover falling blatantly on her shoulders with no mercy for all otherwise combined. Misako _knew. _And if she knew, it would be utterly, horrifically foolish of Nya not to want to ask, however painful it was to come to terms with the truth.

Opportunity was knocking on her door. It rang the bell, clear as day, a shock of chimes in the dark home, filled with the masterful, doubtless thoughts Nya had once created but now shrouded by her current demeanors. All she had to do was open the door.

"Misako?"

"Hmm?" The older woman raised her face from the fringing of her khakis in which she'd forced her nail to sawing in half.

"How do I know he really loves me enough to stay?"

"_You think you understand?" screamed Nya, the heaviness of her screams tearing at her throat, a violation of the usual, gentle octaves in which she sported. _

_Kai glared at her, his spiky hair fallen into his eyes as an eclipse of his heart, a shadow overfacing the loving brother he normally was—overprotective, to say the least—into a distorted, angry version of himself. Smoke could've barreled out his nostrils if he hadn't engulfed his fingertips in flame already. _

"_You think this is easy for me?" He retorted shamelessly, throwing his hands in the air. The fire followed his hands as they moved. "This is so completely, just, terrible, Nya! I mean, seriously! What do you think you're doing, anyway?"_

_Nya stuck out her chin, a stubborn pose she'd adopted since she'd known Kai. The pair rarely ever fought; this was one of the few they'd ever encountered, but by far the most drastic. "Jay is my boyfriend," she said with the confidence of a whale overcoming a school of krill. She knew he wouldn't win. "It's none of your business what I think I'm doing."_

"_Ugh!" Kai smacked the hard heels of his hands against his eyes roughly, they might've been knocked back into his skull, if there were no brain blocking their paths. Nya was almost certain his cranium was empty after witnessing his stupid, boyish stubbornness this past hour they'd battled. "Do I need to see that image? NO THANKS."_

"_I didn't put it there," she said. "That's all you. Unless you want me to _describe—"

"_Shut up, Nya!" shouted Kai. He whirled on her. He stood two feet taller than her, towering a good half-person above her, a height exchange that would've traumatized many. She knew, certainly, Jay, though he was about the same size, would be just as scared as one of the tiny people, but not of Kai himself. He was afraid of what Kai could _do _to him. _

_But there was no fear in his eyes as he stepped up beside her, crossing his arms over his chest. This was a battle Nya would've liked to stay hidden in the comfort of a more solitary bedroom or enclosed area, rather than the bunk room in which both Cole and Zane inhabited, both meandering amongst their things but procrastinating so they could keep a steady hand on the argument. Cole had slipped in first, after his workout, when the bedroom had originally been occupied by Kai, Jay, and Nya, who had not necessarily been shouting at the time. Cole had the dignity and balls to keep his ear buds in, a background noise to the heated tension rising amongst siblings. He'd come sweaty, shirtless, and full of keeping the peace. When Kai had taken a step towards Jay, Nya hadn't been quick enough, but somehow Cole had already ditched the headphones and bolted from his post across the room in an instant to stand between them, forcing Kai's shoulders backwards with the strength Kai probably knew there was no hope in beating. He'd demanded there would be no physical damage done to _anyone's _body, and whoever had dared try rebel against that law would answer to him. Then he'd gone back to his trunk quietly, calmly, and dangerously._

_Nya was thankful to have Cole around. She could never tell what it was about him that made him so incredibly…she didn't know how to explain it other than he was one of the best men she'd ever encountered. He was the perfect balance of strength and kindness you just didn't find anywhere anymore._

_After the discussion began again, Zane had soon followed after, but he didn't interfere except for a quick glance before shuffling onto his bunk, lying there with a book in hand. Nya had the sense to know that Zane had sensed the tension from above and dared help balance the equation. He, too, she was glad to have. _

_In their own ways, each of the ninjas were uniquely enduring, handsome, and they all interacted perfectly together. But at this point in time, Nya was fed up with a certain fire ninja intent on destroying every ounce of happiness she'd gained since the Overlord was defeated._

"_Look, Kai," Jay said gently as Kai seethed. "I know this bugs you. But…we would've felt guilty anyways if you hadn't found out…the way you did. It would've been said eventually."_

"_Although right now, you not knowing is sounding like a treat," Nya snapped. "You're making this far worse than it needs to be, Kai."_

"'_Far worse than it needs to be'?" Kai repeated incredulously. "Do you _hear _yourself? Jay just _screwed _with you, Nya, I can't even…" His mouth snapped shut, jaw clenching tightly. "You just don't _do _that. You're so young, and—Nya, this isn't the way this is supposed to happen. Not NOW, after such a short amount of time! You're so young! This is so wrong, so completely sinful I can barely process that you'd do this, Nya. I can't even _look _at you because of this." _

_The strain was portrayed in his flaming, burning hands, clenched into fists at his sides. Beside her, Jay's head dropped, as though he were ashamed by this. But Nya wasn't prepared to let him hurt, let him agonize over this one thing that truthfully, she wasn't ashamed of at all._

"_Why can't you be happy that I've found someone who makes _me _happy?!" She cried. "Why can't you be _happy? _Jay makes me happy, Kai. I love him!" When Kai flinched, she continued, stepping forth to jam her finger against his chest. "That's right, I _said it to your face! _I love him, Kai! LOVE HIM! I love him more than life itself, and he feels the same way. And we're not going to continue our relationship at a rated PG sentence because you can't come to terms with the fact that your best friend and your little sister have fallen in love. It's not rocket science. The only thing that's categorized as rocket science is why you do this every time someone says something to you about us, or every time you see me kiss him. It's reality, Kai, and you need to get your head out of the clouds and take a good look at it. Why, Kai? Why hurt us?" She stepped back, throwing her arms into the air. Kai's flames had extinguished, leaving his knuckles white and untorched, but his gaze remained on the floor, his mouth sealed shut with the clench of his jaw. _

"_At a loss for words?" She snapped. "Doesn't your ego provide you with answers? Tell me! Why can't you be happy for me?"_

_Jay took her hand, gently tugging her back towards him. Blindly she felt for him, coming upon his chest, afraid that if she glanced away for a millisecond from Kai's face, he'd burst into flames again, scorching the planks of wood beneath him till they finally gave beneath the weight of his heavy fire. Nya clutched at his shirt. A moment later, he dropped a kiss on her hair. "I love you," he murmured, too quiet for Kai, the fuming, to hear. "If we die today I just want you to know that."_

"_No one's gonna die," she said aloud, confidence overcoming her tone. Cole glanced from the trunk into her eyes. It was an unintentional glance—their eyes met at the same time, and Nya watched his thick black eyelashes brush across his pale cheek in a slow blink. Something like time stopped for an odd few seconds; she could hear her heart beating fresh, warm blood to her veins beneath her skin. It channeled through her, a burst of venomous anger so powerful, she felt pride in her choices. He'd given her confidence, somehow, with that small, innocent glance, a glance that was empowered beneath the surface. Beneath the story in his eyes, that Nya had somehow instantaneously decoded, there was an underlying theme that she had yet to decide. _

_She never did find it out. Cole glanced up at Kai, breaking the surreptitious, peculiar instance. Nya shook her head. The noises of the world rushed back to her ears all at once, her heartbeat fading into the background, everyone returning to normal speeds. It was as though someone had flipped the switch of the vacuum and forced everything back inside before shutting the doors completely. _

_Kai still hadn't answered. Nya smirked. "Well?" She offered, once last time. "Why do you do it? Is it because misery loves company?"_

_Kai shut his eyes, giving a scoff-like noise from his nose. He chuckled lowly to himself, like the joke was somehow on them, a condemnation left understood only by the eye of the bearer of the joke: Kai himself. He looked stonily into her eyes. And not once before that very moment had Nya ever seen the true son of hell in Kai before._

_Of course, he didn't know that yet, and she clamped her lips shut._

_He took a step forward, his footstep pressing hard against the planks, causing them to scream. As Nya prepared herself for something she hadn't anticipated, Cole and Zane reacted, their instantaneous movements forming a defensive fortress in front of Jay and Nya. Kai rolled his eyes. "I was leaving, idiots," he said. He peered at Nya between his brothers' shoulders; there, Nya could see a fine layer of pain shielding his brown eyes from the world. It made her feel bad, but she held her head high. _

"_I do it, Nya," he said as he rounded the other two, heading for the door. His fingertips paused on the handle as he glanced back at her, without actually meeting her eyes. He took a heavy inward sigh. "I do it because I love you more than life itself, and the last thing I ever wanted to see was him break your heart."_

_Kai sidestepped Lloyd as he thrust open the door, his footsteps pounding down the hallway until Nya could hear him move no more. Lloyd stood startled in the doorway, confusion masking his handsome features. His eyebrows furrowed. "Everything okay in here, I hope?"_

"_Whatever," Nya turned away, unable to process anything. _

_Jay touched her cheek, but turned his attention to Lloyd. "Hey, how's Sensei?" He asked of the slowing old man. Nya stared out the window at the foggy sunbathed ground surrounding the Bounty's hideout. She could barely see the scene around her out the corner of her eye. _

"_Fine. Which is to say, Zane, I don't know how to cook, but he wants soup. So, since you're pretty much the only one who doesn't know how to cook…" Lloyd said blatantly. "I don't really think he wants your chili, though," he added quickly to Cole. _

_Nya turned. Cole had just rolled his eyes. "I wasn't offering."_

_Zane rubbed his elbow. "I shall come," he said. Then, with the brief nod to Jay, he was gone. _

_It left the three awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, with Nya unsure of what to do next. She didn't want to see Kai. She didn't want to hear his voice, speak to him, think of him, wonder about him. She wanted him rid of her thoughts but she couldn't help the fact that there was nothing left for her to do. Cole turned to his trunk again, digging through his things, making plenty noise to fill the silence. When Nya glanced up at him, Jay was watching her, his eyes sad. He grabbed her hand. "Do you want to go work on something?"_

"_Like what?"_

"_Anything," he murmured. His eyes flickered to her lips. "Whatever you want. Just…you know. Get your mind off things."_

_She considered the idea. What else had she? "Sure," she said finally, reluctantly. "I just need a minute. To—to think." Jay nodded sympathetically. He pulled her to him, a very un-Jay-like gesture, especially with an audience. She felt her cheeks warm beneath his palms as he kissed her, his mouth gentle against her own, a warmth in a time of darkness. When he pulled away, it almost felt too soon. _

_But then he was the next to disappear, leaving Nya rubbing her eyes in spite of her personal goal of not crying. All Nya wanted to do was fall to her knees right there, in the middle of the boys' bedroom, and fall asleep against the hard floorboards. Arguments often wore her out because it was usually unlikely that one of them gave up. It was usually left unsettled for another rainy days' doing, a controversy ongoing throughout the span of time. When she pulled away her hands, they were pooled, drenched in the tears she hadn't want to let go. _

_Cole had a shirt in hand. He turned from his trunk to glance at her, catching her eyes again. This time, the world continued to spin, but she felt an odd presence lingering somewhere beneath the surface when she caught his grey eyes in hers. His lips parted. "Nya, no!" He said, reaching for her. "Please don't cry. I hate it when people cry…"_

"_I'm sorry," she said, her voice trembling despite the odds. She drug her hands against her eyes again. "It's stupid anyway…"_

"_No." Without anything else to offer, Cole stuck out his shirt, a kindness that made Nya laugh a little, even though it didn't seem right to do. He looked completely serious, though, ducking his head to catch her eyes after she'd daintily dabbed away the tears. "It's not. You're right. Kai has no right to destroy the love you deserve. You've earned happiness, Nya. I think he's just torn up because, well, it's Jay and you. He's Kai's best friend and you're Kai's little sister. It's probably just weird for him. He's still processing."_

"_It's been four years."_

"_Some people's hard drives aren't as fast as Zane's."_

_Despite everything, Nya laughed, bringing a smile to Cole's face. He reached for her and brushed hair out of her eyes. The gesture made her freeze—what was he doing?—but he seemed unaware, distant into his thoughts. Nya's cheeks inflated with the air she'd sucked in quickly, for she didn't think she had enough. _

"_You deserve happiness," he repeated quietly, his voice barely above the softest murmur. "Don't let Kai ruin it for you." _

"_Cole?" She whispered. He glanced down at her eyes again, lips parted gently._

"_What?"_

_Nya opened her mouth, but surprised every fiber of her being when she couldn't even whisper the words she wanted to ask. Instead, she just smiled weakly, thrusting out his dampened T-shirt at him. "Thanks," she said, a little too loud for her taste, but had no other option but to pat his arm and walk out of the room, leaving him behind._

_Even as Nya joined Jay in the Bounty's base room, she couldn't help but wonder, even as she stood beside Jay, even as he pressed his mouth softly against her temple, even as the sun burned through the window against her back and she screwed on a nut to a large piece, the final touch to Jay's robot, that something had happened in that bedroom between her and Cole—but she had no idea what._

Misako patted her leg beneath the soft fleece, a comfort in one of the motherly ways Nya missed most about her own mother. "You'll know," she said quietly.

"My judgment isn't always best, trust me."

"No one's is," agreed Misako, placing the bowl back on the nightstand, a rocking motion resulting in its compressive weight. "But I believe that Jay will be an excellent father, Nya. He will love both of you more than anything. I don't know him as well, but from what I've seen, he's the most charismatic and heartwarming person I've ever met. He won't leave you alone, Nya, and I know you're fearing that," she added hastily before Nya could protest. She leaned back against the cushion, avoiding Misako's eyes. "I worried over it, too, because I knew it would happen. But Jay _isn't _Garmadon. He wouldn't do that to you."

Nya hung her head, shame overbearing her. How could she have thought he'd just disappear on her? "How can I be sure he loves me? Is there a way to tell? A twitch of the head, a nose, something?" She continued skeptically, drinking in every work Misako said like it was the last refreshment on earth.

Misako laughed. "He loves you," Misako continued with a confident smile. "You may not know it as well as we do. Everyone else can see the way he looks at you. Like he has the whole world right there in his hands. I know the way that seems because Garmadon used to look at me the same way, too," she admitted quietly, using her fingernail as a saw again to hack off the fraying piece of her sweater. "Now you need rest," Misako raised her eyes. "It is wise to gather as much as you possibly can in the first two months—or, since you've already passed that landmark, three." Misako stood to leave, abandoning the chair cold in its setup beside her bed. She hovered in the doorway a moment longer. "Like I said. Jay will be an excellent father."

As Misako turned away, Nya felt every part of her screaming against her will, digging in its heels like a racehorse unwilling to find water. But she knew the resolution would never come if she never bothered to address it. There was no time for dilly-dallying, no time for mistakes. She found herself raising her voice to call back Misako. _It has to be done, _she told herself. The older woman returned to the doorway, her eyebrows raised over her lenses, a pleasant smile on her face. Nya's heart pounded in her ears as she took a deep breath.

"But what if I wasn't talking about Jay?"


	5. Chapter 4: ALLY

**Hey! :D **

**To inform you, this is really a transition chapter…It's more to give you a base on what Kai's doing while the ninja are off being cornered by Cole & Samokai and Nya's off having man problems. :/ Which, I must say, made me laugh, seeing your guys' reactions! I got you good there! (As you can tell, the NfaN stories are centered around the decadent theme of **_**suspenseful.) **_

**Well, anyway…Here's Kai's chapter! Again, more for you to understand Kai's intentions! :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_4. Ally_

Kai leaned over the railing, peering down on the vast collection of hooded, dark figures, rumbling amongst the main floor in collisions by the dozen, though there was no criminal intent between them. The muffled tongues of ancient Dancers slithered in the condensed air between them, words these blokes knew how to speak but not to read. It was pathetic on their parts, but well understood; the creatures ruled were not far from the likes of the deaf and the dumb.

Beside him, Pythor curled his to tongue, his purple hue disappearing into a dark opalescent blue under the heavy-tinted limelight glowering over them. Atop the balcony overlooking what had been the city of Brenrose's finest club, "Delirium," the two eyeballed the coarse action below, cramming in every last little detail they could of the Shadow Army, a tight squeeze for the four hundred of them. Kai gave a small, deliberate sigh, unsure of how he was going to prepare each of them to fulfill their duties.

IT—the It of all ITS, the leader in which transformed Kai into the demonic entity he was now—had a lingering presence that Kai could sense floating around him somewhere, a hovering memory of greed. It tended to like to remain unseen, yet it's voice lingered daringly through the seed of Eloquim in which It harvested Its power.

Ah, the Eloquim...

"Insufferable creatures," muttered Pythor, his tongue lingering on the last consonant. "They run around like chickens without their heads!"

"The have half the mind of your snake army," agreed Kai, glaring down at the mass. "And that isn't much."

"Yet they are your only chance if you wish to reclaim the Shadow Key," said that deep voice from behind him Kai had been considering only moments before. The slight flutter of cloth told him that the It had taken on Its form, combusting the air into a perfect, solid mass in which It could inhabit. Kai turned to see the hooded figure clutching its staff in a black, scaly hand, the finger nails long and jagged, cracking at the seams. He could barely see its long, pointed, hooked nose beneath the ever gloom of his hood, but he could see the glowing orbs beneath the surface, casting a green glow over what visible features Kai and Pythor could examine.

This was It.

Pythor bowed his hooked, craning neck in the direction of the entity, a gesture relaying the inner sanctum filled with appreciation and gratitude. It appraised him through half-lidded eyes; the act forced his pure green irises into a crescent moon's formation. The look told Kai that Pythor, gangly beast he was, was being assessed, a sizing up of an opponent. This was a look the old Kai had valued, had even used himself once, a mimicry of the similar expression that Cole had donned—that is, until Cole had suffered the untimely demise of colliding like a falling bullet with the sand of the desert, never to rise again.

Despite himself, he smirked. As Pythor restored himself to full height, the leader's gaze fell to Kai. Though there was no real, circular iris to configure the shifting of his sight line, it was an instinct, a premature warning in the back of your head that he was now looking at YOU.

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his waist against the thin metal bar deployed for protection but not worth the dime it took to make it. This was a gesture much unlike Pythor's; this was a gesture of refusal. After all, being the son of the king of the underworld meant he had to how down to no man, creature, or thing—a privilege to being who he was.

Though he'd never met his father, It had warned him of many things. Elathan Von Hellraiser (a name apparently he'd bestowed of on himself) was a wretched man, It said, a perfect candidate for the position of hell god. He did not own a definite, one form that could be appeasable to one's eye, It had told him in the darkness of the night, but rather the image of what the eye of the beholder wished to see. It was quite the peculiar phase but the only way Elathan knew how to be seen.

Kai hadn't asked much of It when prying for details about his father. It didn't seem to be pleased when describing the King; yet you had to draw your own conclusions because of the lack of facial features and expressions in the darkness provided.

Instead of asking much, Kai settled with what information he could harvest. And that was not much.

It held the staff in it's hand, a tall, golden scepter, the top poised in a curl over a gem so ruby red it was deeper than blood. Gleaming under the spilling, brimming colors of the disco lights shifting overhead, the ruby pulsated with a power so great, Kai could feel it from the distance he stood from It, the rushing of its aura flooding the air he breathed. He wanted to know what—and why—the Shadow Dancer acquired such a powerful weapon, but knew better than to ask.

"Speaking of Shadow Keys, we need to read that map," It growled, Its menacing, dark voice foreboding. "And since you killed one of the allies—"

"He wouldn't have told us anyway," grumbled Kai. "He said he wouldn't."

"We have better means!" howled the leader, a shout above the hissing below. "Do you know how difficult it is to obtain such informants? I have searched for YEARS, boy, YEARS—"

"You haven't looked hard enough!" Kai laughed bitterly. "There isn't just HIM, you know. I didn't do this out of random impulse. I have a plan."

"Oh?" said the Shadow Dancer, disinterested. "Do tell, boy."

"My name isn't 'boy'," Kai hissed angrily through clenched teeth. "Let me get this straight: I'll have you know that I am your rightful leader; your kind wouldn't exist without my father. You can't control me. Your rule is petty. Invalid. Pathetic." he spat the last word. "Am I clear?"

It took a while for the Dancer to process Kai's directions. Kai couldn't describe a facial expression to put to anything that could've been flying through the shadow man's brain. He raised his chin defiantly. He wasn't willing to let himself be puppeted by this excuse of a demon. He was the Prince of Hell; he couldn't be ruled.

He was still processing the idea.

"Do you understand?" Kai said lowly.

Slowly, the eyes shut, revealing a pitch black, pointed face in the dark. Then, equally as laggardly, It nodded Its head, a sign that Kai had won.

He leaned back, satisfied. "In that case, my first request would be that you tell me your name. I grow tired of calling you 'It.'"

"You call me 'It?'" asked the creature curiously, Its eyelids flickering open.

"Have you given me another option?"

It smiled. "Touché."

"Then speak."

It rubbed the hilt of the scepter, as if it brought good fortune, like a genie's release from the bottle. "I've gone by many names," It began cryptically, the tone that suggested a story was coming on. Kai rolled his eyes.

"Cut to the chase."

It glanced up, momentarily surprised. "I go by Eloquim."

"Like your power source?" asked Pythor, gesturing to the scepter's jewel methodically. Eloquim allowed the redundancy of a smile, tight across its thin, black lips.

"Pythor, dear fellow," chuckled Eloquim, "I AM the power source." he held the scepter high, allowing Kai and Pythor to dawdle and drool over its stellar magnificence; however, the fantasy was short lived. Soon it was returned to its hidden shelter beneath the raven cloak overhanging the thin shoulders of Eloquim. Kai felt a strange departure from the mysterious ruby, a thick absence in the air he did not appreciate. "Now," Eloquim said, "your turn. This plan of yours."

Kai smiled despite himself. "He learned it from somewhere," he said of Rufus. "Or, rather, someone. Someone whose closer than we think."

"Well who?" Pythor's tail, concealed beneath the cloak too short for his body, whipped furiously back and forth. Anticipation curled his lips, forcing his fangs into an overhang of his lower jaw, his tongue flickering between them.

"Her name is Misako," Kai murmured darkly. "Misako Garmadon."

Pythor leaned back, a recognition of titles. Eloquim nodded. "I see. What do you suppose we—"

"SIR!" Pythor peered over Eloquim's shoulder at the little Dancer, stumbling though the curtains concealing the entrance to the balcony, overture of the club. Kai watched the little man pant furiously. "Sir! Our...alliance has cornered...prisoners."

"Alliance?" Kai repeated, glancing dubiously at Eloquim.

Eloquim didn't bat an eyelash. "Which allies and what prisoners?"

The little man frowned, a contortion of his face. Kai leaned forward in anticipation, a curiously interesting plot twist. "...Samokai, sir," the little man straightened. Kai's eyes narrowed. Hadn't he defeated Samokai? But at the same time, they'd also defeated Pythor. "Samokai and his samurai army."

"And the prisoners?"

The little man barely glanced at Kai; he'd later know why there was hardly a man to meet his gaze later that evening, hardly a soul to catch his glance. "The ninja, sir. He's cornered the ninja."

**Which, of course, you guys already knew, but I have this good idea for Lloyd's part and I **_**really **_**wanted to get to it. :/ Sorry if this chapter was lame. But Kai's next chapter, once we touch base with the other ninja, will be a lot more descriptive of what's happening with him and what he's feeling and stuff. I promise. **

**Questions those of you might hope to be answered in the next few chapters****: **

"**Will they redeem Cole, or will he forever be a green-eyed slave of Samokai's samurai army?"**

"**Will Nya tell Jay the truth, or will he find out the hard way?"**

"**Will Lloyd learn of his destiny?"**

"**Will Caroline explain to the team the legends of the Great Battle, to clear up Misako's questions?"**

"**Will Lloyd have a heart to heart with his parents?"**

"**Will Kai learn any more about his father?" **

"**Will everyone realize what the color GREEN is starting to stand for?" **

**So **_**my **_**question for you is: Which one do you want answered the **_**most? **_**(IN WHICH: PLEEEAAASEEE ANSWER THAT QUESTION BECUZ I REALLY WANT SOMETHING TO BASE CHAPTER 5 OFF OF, BUT THERE ARE SO MANY, I WANNA KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS WANT TO KNOW! ) ****Which question is leaving you breathless? **

**That's all for today, guys. And BTW, check in on DeviantArt sometime tonight! I'm uploading some sketches I've done of NfaN!**

**-Kairi**


	6. Chapter 5: SHADES OF GREEN

**HEY! **

_**This chapter is really long**_**! but a LOT is going on! I tried to answer as many questions that I'd left for you guys as I could. The rest of them (hopefully) will be answered in the next chapter, the Christina Aguilera of the music. :D **

**SPEAKING OF MUSIC… **

**Inspiration for Chapter 5, "Shades of Green"? It's called "THE HERO'S RETURN" by Epic Score—check it sometime to see what brought on Chapter 5's events!**

**You guys will get to see Cole again, and Question 1 from yesterday WILL be answered! :D Definitely! Question 2 just might have to wait for you guys tomorrow, though, teehee. I saw how all of you wanted that question answered the most. Lol. . It wouldn't have fit into this chapter much anyway, but I DID, however, touch base on it!**

**And, if you're wondering throughout the chapter what song it is Caroline sang, it's called "Sally's Song" by Amy Lee. :D It's really pretty & I love it! It kind of fit for the moment, too, so. :D ENJOY! **

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_5. Shades of Green_

Lloyd couldn't hide his astonishment. It dawned on his face like the newborn rays of first light in the early hours of the morning, Lloyd's favorite time of the day. He always found it endearingly peaceful to stand aboard the deck of the Bounty, watching the sun's rays flitting across the clouds, illuminating the sides of buildings in a heavenly glow.

But now there was absolutely nothing peaceful about the way one of his own friends glared out at him with the unholy intention to kill.

Cole's lip curled, his body flexing into a defensive stance, removing the weaponry of deadly blades from his back brace quickly. With a samurai helmet clinging to his ebony mane of hair, the visor barely cast a shadow over his eyes, burning an unnatural shade of green. It became a swirling vortex beneath the rimming, thick black lashes concentrating the earth ninja's eyes. Heavy metal armor draped over his shoulders, covering his abdomen, spiking at his chipped shoulder protectors, worn raw by many uses. Lloyd watched the sick determination to kill burn intensely in Cole's face, a grimace of dark intentions becoming his fine-boned face.

And as if Cole wasn't bad enough, behind him was an army of properly and similarly dressed men, pouring out the swung wide gates, a school of fish let from the barring dam. Before the ninja had a chance to react, they were enveloped in the repetitive outfitted men, all pointing their swords outward, A distance in which was only inches from breaking Lloyd's skin. Similar snarls of determination outlawed their faces.

This circus was thrown by none other than Samokai, the greedy, grimacing skeleton standing atop the large vehicle in which the samurai maneuvered around. Wide, full of points, guns, barrels, ammunition, and other potentially fatal weapons, the vehicle's large wheels stood taller than three times Lloyd's size, and could crush at least four people in one rotation. The skeletal man laughed loudly. Menacingly. His ribcage was empty of the organs it would've taken to erupt such bowel-ful laughter, but a magician's works seemed to consume him. Armor fell across his wide chest in a protection of whatever valuables could've been hidden beneath it—but certainly no heart remained. His jaw bobbed with his laughter. And hidden in the pits of his bottomless, black eye sockets, instead of the eyeballs one would've assumed to see, was an intense, flaming green fire, zeroing in on the ninja with a pointed glare.

Lloyd swallowed. They stood back to back now, a position in which allowed Lloyd to come face to face with Cole. To be honest, he felt a little fearful. Cole had always been a determined, powerful warrior. Who was to say that now he wouldn't go at Lloyd, armor less, with the viciousness of a snake?

Cole seemed to be awaiting Samokai's orders, but Samokai still participated in his laughing fit.

It was enough time for Zane, with his arm pressed against Lloyd's, to draw a murmur of conclusion from the air. "I sense a wrongness here."

Jay laughed nervously. "A 'wrongness,' Zane? This is so far past 'wrongness' that 'wrongness' isn't even a blip on the radar. This is...MORTIFYINGLY HORRIFYINGLY COMPLETELY INSANE." He swallowed hard, a noise Lloyd could hear over the growling of the samurai.

Cole sneered. Lloyd narrowed his eyes, his lips curling into a frown of determination. He'd fought worse—and as Cole taunted him with the waving of his swords, slicing through the air, Lloyd realized two things: Firstly, the samurai were waiting for the ninja to react, to pull the first move of attack. Secondly, he figured out exactly what Zane had meant by 'a wrongness.' It broke across his face like the crack of dawn; Lloyd could feel it pour across his visage, emotions flooding through him, and he grinned at Cole, despite his fear.

"No, Jay!" He gasped."He means, look at their eyes!"

Each samurai sported a similar pair of intensely burning emerald eyes—millions of shades of green in which Lloyd hadn't even known existed until

now. He watched each samurai make a very similar face of disgust at him, a face he knew had to be enforced by Samokai, the kareening green flames flickering down his skull, a sign he was controlling each of them.

As Lloyd caught Zane nodding out the corner of his eye, Jay shrieked in disappointment to his right. "Aw, c'mon, Cole!" He yowled. "You're possessed AGAIN?!"

"It is unbearably so," Zane sighed. There was the quick audible swipe of blades cutting through air, and the following of a spinning noise. It was a sign informing Lloyd that he'd pulled out his shurikens, twirling them around his fingertips.

"And hey!" Jay gasped. "The storm! The green lightning!"

Lloyd frowned, unsure of what they were talking about, but he had his own steady point to make. "And didn't you say that the snake you saw in the doorway had green eyes?"

Zane nodded again.

"And those stupid Shadow Stalkers—their green eyes!" Jay swung his nunchucks in a circle through the air, tearing through the stillness, breaking through the wall of heat. "Do you think that Samokai's doing this?"

"Shadow Stalkers?" Lloyd asked dubiously.

"He means Shadow DANCERS," Zane corrected. Lloyd felt recognition course through his body, a firelight flicking on the switch of the light bulb in his mind.

"You know about them?" Lloyd stepped back to avoid getting a chunk tore out of him by Cole's taunting sword. Cole chuckled. "Too scared?" he teased.

"Oh, yes," Zane murmured. "We had a run in with them in the desert."

"Um."

"You missed a LOT, kid," Jay gasped. "We'll fill you in later, but first we've got a problem of our own..."

Without waiting for Lloyd to make the first move any longer, Cole swung his sword, tearing through the air with his fine blade. It sliced a piece of Lloyd's green sweatshirt—he hadn't been able to jump back fast enough. It tore the logo advertising pyrotechnics in half, almost sifting right through Lloyd's skin. He gasped. "Hey!" He cried, feeling the cold air flooding in through the cut in his clothing, filling his insides with a chill so deep it wracked his bones. Cold laughed menacingly. "That's not cool, dude! NOT. COOL."

Cole laughed again. "What are you going to do about it?" he challenged.

Lloyd curled his lip, tucking his chin downwards to glare at Cole beneath his lashes. His eyes narrowed, a frown of determination resparking on his face, with the essence of Lloyd's inner power channeling towards Cole in hopes to remind him what Lloys could do. But the ninja of earth cocked an eyebrow. "Bring it," Cole growled.

In that moment, a simultaneous agreement was reached in the intense heat of the desert in which Zane was shielded from, Lloyd was brought numb to, and Jay was completely ignorant of. It was a solid ideal of purpose, a condescending knowing that there was hardly a chance of victory for the three against the thousand, but a willingness to fight with every intensifying bone, gear, and emotion inside them. In this agreement, the three of then attacked at the same time, leaping forward with their weapons held high and similar shouts of defiance against their opponents; Lloyd crashed down on Cole with his sword, their blades pressing tightly against each other. He kicked out his leg towards Cole, catching him off guard, throwing him back against two other oncoming samurai. While Cole struggled to regain his balance, Lloyd sparked an element in his fingertips but didn't know which he was calling forth. A moment later, the samurai that'd threatened him collapsed to the ground, what visible cloth on him burning in a fit of flames, licking up his body quickly in the oppressing heat.

Lloyd laughed and pointed another finger at the oncoming enemies. Their feet froze to the ground.

Cole charged, his sword flinging from his hands towards Lloyd, a spiraling, deadly fan twirling through the air. Reacting quickly, Lloyd called forth a mountain, springing through the ground just moments before the sword would have cut off his head.

Another samurai attacked, slicing at Lloyd's arm. He felt the tip faintly graze his arm, but the burn from the blade shocked him. Warm blood poured from his wound. "Ow!" He shrieked. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Jay's head turn towards him, his nunchucks holding back a blade from coming down his face. Sweat headed his forehead, the strain obvious, overcoming him as his legs slowly bent. Lloyd held out a hand. Then, the lighting sprouted from his fingertips, knocking the fatal weapon from the samurai's hands. Jay gave a confident laugh and knocked the samurai's helmet from his head before giving him a good smack across the temple.

Lloyd turned back to the Chinese man he fought now, the one with his blood smeared across the tip of his weapon. "Your turn," he said lowly. The Chinese man's eyes widened before Lloyd have him just what he wanted: A huge, honking rock right in his fat face. Lloyd laughed while he watched the little man collapse in a heap of broken nose in front of his friends.

Cole jumped from behind the small mountain, grabbing the sword from beside the Chinese dude's body, unable to retrieve his own from inside the rock. Lloyd grinned, manipulating a stack of ice into his hands, a form of many daggers. He hurled them at Oncoming samurai, who dropped like rocks when it pierced through their skin. Lloyd then grabbed his own sword from behind his back and swung it at Cole, colliding with his replacement weapon, the high-pitch scratching noise of the metals screaming in protest. Cole sneered at him. "Ninja scum," he spat at Lloyd.

"Excuse you!" Lloyd pushed against Cole's weapon, knocking it aside. He smirked. Cole wasn't too efficient with swords, he discovered—probably because his main weapon was a scythe, a scythe in which he didn't have. Cole took to using his fists, swinging at Lloyd's face, a blunt attack he avoided by dropping down, kicking out his leg, and lifting a spin to knock down Cole's feet. Then, when Cole fell in a fit of cried of anger, Lloyd righted himself, yelling, "NINJAAAAGOOOOO!" before leaping into the air, landing himself a kick back, followed by the familiar sensation of whipping around, forcing himself into a spin, until the bright green tornado curled around him. Lloyd grabbed Cole from the ground. He saw the fear in Cole's eyes burn intensely. As though he had no idea what was going on, Cole flailed his legs, giving out a cry of impatience. "You need to learn some manners!" Lloyd shouted, then threw him, unsure of what direction Cole was sailing in. In his spinning land, Lloyd watched Cole fly through the air, landing atop seven or so other samurai. He'd flown over twenty feet away.

He smiled at the frozen samurai surrounding him. "Who's next?" He called. But the other samurai stared in shock, their green eyes trembling with fear.

"Witchcraft!" one yelled. "They're demons!"

Lloyd turned to see Jay and Zane landing in similar spinning finales behind him. He turned back to the men of many races, all wearing a similar look of fear as they watched the ninja falter their spinjitzu, and replied by raising his eyebrows. None moved.

"WELL?" shouted Samokai. "MOVE! FIGHT, you fools!"

A power seemed to overthrow them, consuming their thought in Samokai's orders, the similar expressions of murder collapsing the fear, a shunning of all weakness. Lloyd sighed as he used what elements he could harness again after the reinvented samurai. Minutes, maybe hours, passed; there were too many of them for Lloyd to track. His elements came strong, but Lloyd was starting to feel weak, his energy channeled from his draining confidence. He could barely lift his legs to shuffle sideways to avoid a swipe of metal threatening him.

He saw Jay and Zane doing the same. Jay was panting, doubling over in between enemies. Zane seemed to be slowing down. Lloyd rubbed his forehead. His arm was caked in blood, his body was being wracked by shivers. What more could go wrong?

The samurai, listening to the melody of Samokai's orders, just kept coming.

"Just die, will you?" pleaded Jay. "I...hate this!"

Then they heard a familiar hovering, the blasting of an engine from above. The ninja craned their necks to see the Bounty 2 dropping a load of bodies from the sky; Lloyd yelped as he flung himself to the side to avoid being torpedoed by one. Six people landed on the sand that day, six people who would later save Lloyd from any kind of death he may have met, had they not arrived when they did. He grinned to see Angus land at his side with a Large weapon in hand: a gun. "Say hello to my little friend!" He yelled. He pointed it at the samurai, and shot a loud, obnoxious round at the feet of the closest pack of samurai, startling them into their own frenzy of fear, but was overthrown again by Samokai's screaming.

Lloyd fired ice at the samurai's feet, forcing them to their places until the ice melted.

Caroline landed at Lloyd's other side, Zane under handing an African man who tried taking a swing with his weapon to Caroline's head. With a grateful smile, she acquired a weapon of her own taste, a small, handheld device that actually didn't appear to be the menacing type. "It's called a Taser," she explained, and operated with a quick jab of the weapon to the side of a samurai. He began convulsing on spot, arms and legs jerking violently through the air; he collapsed in an unmoving, dead heap at her feet, the Taser's rays amplified. Jay gawked. "Awesome!" he gasped.

Caroline smiled. "Glad you like it. Now," she pointed towards Samokai. Zane threw a shuriken at an oncoming enemy. "It appears that he is the source of the party, here. His orders are duly pertained and carried out quickly, shortly after they are given. So, if my calculations are correct, if we can somehow block out or stop his commands, the army will cease battle, rendering themselves useless."

"But how are we gonna get up there?" Jay asked, smacking a warrior out of the way. Lloyd set a scorch of flames in the direction of the persistent opponents. And Angus, in a flurry of laughter, shot bullets directly towards Samokai, but to no avail, the skeletal warrior hid before the bullets could

Reach him. Angus groaned.

"There are too many of them," Lloyd added.

"I have a way," Caroline leaned back taking a deep breath. Then she opened her eyes and let it flow soothingly from her lips.

Caroline's voice fell like a melody, the lyrics pouring through the ears of the samurai, loud and clear above the shouts of Samokai. Her pitches struck a note inside of Lloyd that made his heart pound, his mind fog over with the intensity of her voice. The warriors froze in mid attack to stare at Caroline, listening fleetingly to her song; it chilled Lloyd to the bone, unaccompanied by the freeze in the air. He watched, mesmerized, as she raised her hands over her head, auburn hair falling back over her shoulders In the heat of the moment, a gleam in her eyes. Zane watched her with wide, dreamy eyes, his lips parted in a gasp, his cheeks flushing unnaturally. Jay's eyebrows raised. Then, to the samurai beside him gazing open mouthed at Caroline, he lifted the cap of the helmet and punched him. The warrior collapsed unknowingly at his feet, but in peace he went.

The others caught Jay's intentions and attacked to the best of their abilities without having to do much. Caroline continued her melody peacefully in the background. Soothing, almost, to Lloyd's nerves.

_"I sense there's something in the wind_

_That seems like tragedy's at hand  
And though I'd like to stand by him  
Can't shake this feeling that I have  
The worst is just around the bend_

And does he notice my feelings for him?  
And will he see how much he means to me?  
I think it's not to be

What will become of my dear friend?  
Where will his actions lead us then?  
Although I'd like to join the crowd  
In their enthusiastic cloud  
Try as I may, it doesn't last

And will we ever end up together?  
no, I think not, it's never to become  
For I am not the one..."

Samokai screamed in a fit. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He yelled. "ATTACK!"

Lloyd smirked as no one moved.

He found Cole in the crowd, listening with a frown on his face. He didn't seem at all effected by the song. When he caught sight of Lloyd with Angus at his side, his nose twisted into a feral wrinkle, mouth formed a snarl. Lloyd gaped. "Why isn't he frozen too?" He asked, sending a spark that bounced uselessly against Cole's armor as the other ninja descended on him.

Angus fired around to Cole's feet that he lithely avoided like the ninja he was. "He's in love," Angus announced, backing up alongside Lloyd as he shot ice shards at Cole, trying to stun him without actual fatally hurting him. "Caroline's a Syren. Her songs are supposed to effect lonely men."

"In love?" Lloyd repeated dubiously. "You sure about that?"

"Positive," Angus ducked to avoid the shard Cole threw back. "Otherwise he'd be awestruck right now."

"That doesn't make sense. There's been no one Cole's associated with that could make him fall in love for the past, like, four years."

Angus paused, considering. "Well, there is Nya."

Cole snarled at the sound of her name, chucking another ice share. It barely caught onto Lloyd's shoulder as he sidestepped, unsure of how to do this. "But Nya's with Jay."

Angus eyed him. "So?"

Cole hurled himself at Lloyd, bowling him over, kicking up sand and dust with him as he rolled atop him, digging his fingernails into Lloyd's cheeks. Lloyd shrieked in pain as he drug them down his skin, tearing apart his flesh with cruelty and hatred. His green eyes burned intensely, sweat matting his hair to his forehead, uncapped by his lost helmet. Angus reloaded his gun to fire, but Cole pounded his fist into the ground, bringing up a mountain range, blocking the outside world from getting in. Cold dug his nails in beneath Lloyd's eyes. Lloyd shrieked in pain, a bloodcurdling, throaty noise he never knew he could make. Cole grinned. "How's that feel?" He spat. "Good? How bout this?"

Lloyd screamed like he'd never screamed before, his throat burning with the intensity of the noise. He wailed, tears pouring out his eyes. Cole, one of his own best friends turned into a fiend, a terror profound in the desert, blood pouring down Lloyd's face and from his throat as Cole dug in his fingers down the jugular...

**JAY**

The high-pitched, animal-like wail came from behind the giant rock protruding from the ground. It broke through Caroline's melody, shattering her flowing notes with its jagged, uneven chords, violating the security the song had given the ninja. Jay caught sight of Angus staring wildly at the rock with some means of climbing, but it unnaturally was a slick, smooth surface, one Jay feared had been purposeful. He rushed towards the mountain as Caroline tried to grab the attention of the samurai again with Zane at his heels. Fear eclipsed his heart.

"Lloyd!" screamed Angus, but his cry was drowned by the screaming. "Lloyd! What's happening?"

Jay skidded to a stop, groping the wall for some way to grab it. Behind The fortress of death, Lloyd screamed louder, his pain pouring out his yells. Around them, Jay could see that Caroline was Struggling to revive the attention of the men; their heads turned towards the mountain. Jay realized it was the plan all along to stop Caroline's song.

It was the plan. And Cole was the devisor.

**LLOYD**

Lloyd forced Cole backwards. Cole kicked him hard in the ribs in response, forcing the cry out of Lloyd, forcing his pain right out his throat like never before. "You foolish ninja," he spat. "You're pathetic! Thinking you can defeat us. PATHETIC!"

Lloyd whimpered, his breathing ragged and torn by his pain, physically overbearing him. His blood poured from his face to the sand beneath his head, drizzling like the warmest of rivers, a consistent pool. He could barely see beneath the red blots in his vision, much less speak through his sore throat. He hyperventilated in the cold consuming him.

"You're weak," continued Cole, placing a foot on Lloyd's ankle. He leaned on his knee, bending down to glare at Lloyd. The pressure in his ankle caused him to give a small, childish cry. "You're hardly anything to defeat the Prince in battle. I see a darkness for the earth in the future!"

"P-Prince?" Lloyd managed.

"Ah, so you DON'T know!" Cole smiled. This smile wasn't his, nor was his tone, causing Lloyd to believe this was Samokai's doing. Poor Cole, always getting possessed... "That's a shame."

Cole eased off his foot. "A great war between the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master and the Prince of Darkness in the Great Battle, silly ninja, is what really decides the earth's fate. The Final Battle was only the beginning! I laugh at your lack of knowledge of your own heritage."

"Who..." Lloyd groaned, "is the Prince...of...Darkness?"

There was a loud crash of what sounded like thunder, startling Lloyd. Cole smiled. "That's him now."

**ZANE**

"GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNN!" He screamed.

Jay turned his head in time to see the cloud of dark green smoke arising from the ashes of sand beneath their feet, not too far from Samokai's vehicle. It looked like an ever rising sandstorm, forcing the samurai out of the way, the flash of thunder corrupting the thick green aroma of evil. A pathway opened from the crowd of warriors, one leading directly towards Zane, Jay, Caroline, Angus, and the throat of slick rock beside them, as though the darkness wanted to meet them. Zane shook with fear at the intensifying cloud as it finally began a dissipation phase, it's smoky substance evaporating into three featureless forms, hidden beneath the shadow of Samokai's large vehicle. Beside him, Jay stiffened, a back becoming ramrod straight with the fear he felt too.

The rock began to lower, a wall slinking back into the ground. Zane adopted a steely gaze towards the green eyes, unheavenly brother before him, lifting Lloyd's ragged form by the scruff roughly. Zane gasped once he caught sight of Lloyd's mangled face. Scratches descended the vertical length of his face, soaking his skin in blood; his throat was torn wide as though an animal had gone in for dinner. Cole's fingertips were caked with blood. Lloyd barely supported himself on his own two feet.

"Lloyd!" shrieked Jay. He made to run toward him, but Zane caught the glimpse of the three shadow figures outstretching their hand, capturing Jay in a frozen, darting position. Jay screamed angrily, waving his arms and legs as he hung suspended in the air, like a cat's scruff wrangled by its owner. He bared his teeth at Cole.

"I'll kill you," he spat.

Cole smirked, eyes half lidded. "I would love to see your reaction once you learn what I have done," Cole mysteriously said, but he didn't sound like Cole. Disregarding Jay's pointed questions, he threw Lloyd in the ground in front of them, causing the young boy to give a mangled cry at his rough land. Zane dropped to his knees, overturning Lloyd so he faced heavenwards. Caroline, falling beside Zane, pulled his head into her lap, swiping blood from his cheeks, smearing the red liquid. Lloyd whimpered.

The three forms began to take shape, but they were so far away Zane couldn't see much. Samokai descended the vehicle beside them. "Masters!" He gasped happily, waving towards Cole. "Me and my loyal second in command officer have successfully captured the ninja, as you directed."

"Well done," said a familiar, leering voice that Zane couldn't put a name to. He couldn't shake the fear locking up his gears; the color green surrounded him, a fatalistic omen of death. He shrunk lower as above him, Jay struggled to be free.

"All of them?" asked another, accented voice. This time, there was no hesitation to Zane's memory. He recognized it. "Are you sure?"

Pythor.

"Certainly!" Samokai nodded enthusiastically. "Well...except one."

"Which?" asked the first voice.

"Uh...let's see." Samokai tapped his forehead. "I have the earth one, um, the ice one, the lightning one, the green one...Oh, yes! The fire one! He's missing."

"Oh, you fool!" yelled Pythor's voice. Zane didn't hear the disappointment he would've expected; in stead, Pythor seemed to really mean that Samokai was an idiot for some acclaimed reason. "We already have that one."

"WHAT?!" Jay shrieked. "KAI!"

Briefly, Cole turned his head.

"Then yes!" Samokai proudly puffed out his empty chest. "I have all the ninja."

"Well done." The first voice said. The middle shadow turned to the one on his left, the form seeming to twist in its direction. Though it didn't decree a person, Zane knew that beneath the shadows were things dark, deep, and dangerous. "Would you like to meet your eternal opponent, my Prince?" It sad almost reluctantly.

"Crap," Lloyd muttered. Caroline rubbed his chest comfortingly.

Without an answer, the third shadow floated from the safety of Samokai's vehicle into the bright, pounding sunlight, forever a burning hell for nindroids. It traveled the designated path the samurai had parted for them to take, forcing Cole into a kneel, a gesture that made Zane frown. As it came, it adopted a form, taking on the head and the shoulders of a man, with a large, curved form behind it. His feet finally created depressions in the sand as he walked then. And as the color started to come from the air around him, bleeding into the unpainted ways of this person's uniform, Zane could feel the dread building up between them all, the gasps forming between lips but the shock forcing it downwards into their tight throats.

He wore a metallic armor covering his abdomen painted the mixed colors of red, orange and yellow. The same patterns extended across the bloody red cape flowing behind him, fluttering with the push of gentle winds on his pathway towards the ninja. The tail of his cloak adorned an actual fire. Behind his head, the form had become into the tall, wide shape with hooks of flames, almost as though it were a hood but not for wearing. His arms and legs were wrapped in black, silky material. His gloves started at his wrists with spiked wristbands, and his boots, heavy, black skull-crushers, kicked dust onto Lloyd as he stopped in front of them. His bright, unusually green eyes smiled down at them, along with his pale red lips, extending across his pale face. His brown, messy hair still clung to its normal pointed style, but Zane didn't know what bothered him more: the fact that he realized now why he was all of the sudden able to withstand the sun by the invisible sunblock, or the way that his former brother glared down at him.

Jay shrieked. "NOOO!" He yelled, flailing his body so roughly, he almost kicked Angus in the head. "This is a sick joke; _sick! _You're lying! He's not real!"

Lloyd shook his head. His eyes had gone wide with horror, bleeding tears into his raw wounds. "No," he whispered.

"This cannot be," Zane shook his head, staring upwards, the sun blotted out by the form of his brother before him.

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, the real green fire flickering in his eyes. "Hello, brothers," he said, relaxing the line of his shoulders. A grim smile entranced his face. "It's been a while."

"You...you _sided _with them?!" Jay shrieked, dangling in front of Kai limply. Kai raised his eyes. "Dude, what the _hell _is the matter with you?! Why would you do that?! KAI!"

"You left me," Kai said simply. "I had to react."

Jay stared at him in horror.

Zane stared at the uniform Kai had taken on, replacing his red sweatshirt and battered old jeans that Zane had last seen him sporting. He now was clad in the suit that belonged to...to, well, an evil overlord. It closed his throat. Good Lord. Good Lord save them all.

"You like it?" Kai asked. "Comes with the package."

"Package?" Caroline said. Kai's eyes finally fell on her, and the sparkle of interest arose in his eyes. Zane glared at him with no anticipation of actually sending a real death glare in the direction of the brother he'd once loved. The way Kai devoured her with his eyes brought a sickness to Zane's stomach that made him clear his throat.

"Well, hel_lo_, gorgeous," Kai said, and Jay gave a loud noise of disgust. He smiled like a devil. "Who might you be?"

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "I sense you're not the most stable of people."

Kai frowned. "Nindroid number two?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Never mind..." He eyed her. His gaze flitted to Lloyd, who watched him with a horror that Zane could feel being a nuisance inside of himself. He expected-no, he _hoped _to see some kind of flicker of pain at seeing Lloyd so torn up, but there was nothing, nothing at all in Kai's eyes. He didn't know who this excuse of a person was anymore. This guy-whoever it was-was _not _the Kai he knew. "Lloyd! May the best man win."

"Win _what?" _Jay shrieked. "Kai, you _idiot, _why would you do this? How are they ANY better than us? What are you thinking? Come back to us! Come back NOW!"

"Come back to what? People who won't accept who I am?" Kai snarled.

"We said we didn't care if you were the son of the King or not. We still love you, Kai, which is why you have to come back! These people, whatever they are, are sick! They're gonna use you! Evil be damned, Kai!"

"Why thanks!" Kai rolled his eyes. "The battle lines have been drawn. Now, I have a map to decode." His eyes fell to Lloyd. "How's your mom doing, kiddo?"

Lloyd gasped painfully. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" He yelled.

"Or?"

"I'll _kill _you. Right here, right now, I will _slaughter _you."

Lloyd's threat dangled in the air between them, a rush of senseless banter, a cry of defiance. Zane watched him, startled at such a declaration, but Lloyd looked fiercely serious. His mother was the most important thing to him, Zane decided. There was a thickness in the air, a cry of the wind from the flaming heat, a decision of preciseness they didn't bother explaining to themselves. Kai gave himself a moment before grinning. The heavy feeling lingered.

"Relax,' he said, "I've got a backup plan."

"Reaally." Lloyd coughed. "Well guess what, you egotistical hothead? _So do I." _He looked to Jay before yelling, "NOW!'

Jay swung his leg outwards, catching Cole's shoulder, forcing Cole to the ground. With a cry of surprise, Cole landed on his knees, enough of a time span for Zane to tear his armor from his abdomen, revealing his barren skin beneath. Caroline leaped to her feet, yanking Lloyd with her, as sparks of intense electricity shot from his fingertips, catching Cole in all its magnificent power. Caroline removed her Taser from her belt, catching Kai in the arm as he squealed, jumping backwards. Jay landed on his feet, agile as a cat. Angus, taking out a new, blue bullet, loaded the marvelously large, powerful, intricate gun, and aimed it towards Kai. With a blast, the bullet propelled outwards in a flurry Zane couldn't quite follow with his old eyes. Cole collapsed to his hands and knees. Jay grabbed him, lifting him as the _Bounty 2's_anchor landed with a jolt by their side. Jay chucked Cole onto a hook. Zane took Lloyd from Caroline and set him beside the moaning earth ninja. Then, Caroline hurled the Taser one last time at Kai, but this time, he was expecting it. After he caught it, he gave a snarl of anger. She dodged the shot of fire released from Kai's covered palms. Zane froze the ground beneath Kai's feet, forcing him to slip, landing disdainfully on his back. As Jay climbed aboard the anchor, he shouted for them to hurry. Caroline and Zane reached for Kai, but there was an obstacle.

Pythor's tail cracked against Zane like the blast of a feral whip, knocking him against his own ice as Kai stood. A shard jutting from the ground pressed into his shoulder blade painfully, but he refused to show weakness. Caroline gave an angry yelp and swung her leg towards Pythor, but he grabbed her ankle. He yanked hard against her, pulling her off her feet so he could dangle her, upside down, in the air.

Caroline grunted as she tried to kick, but Pythor only laughed. "Oh, _do _I have fun these days!" He said. Zane pulled himself to his feet.

"Let her _go!" _Zane yelled, throwing a heavy blast of cool ice in his direction, but Pythor moved faster. He used Caroline as a shield.

Caroline shrieked. "CAROLINE!" Zane yelled, feeling his heart sink with horror. He reached for her as Pythor let go of her frozen body. _What have I done?! _He thought, bringing his elbow down hard against the ice. It cracked against the force of his blow. He drove his fingers between the slit, yanking them apart best he could, but this seemed like a job Cole would be more skillfull at doing. He grunted against the strain.

Pythor laughed from behind him. "Fool!" He yelled.

Zane desperately hit his elbow against Caroline's frozen waist. "Zane, careful!" She gasped. "My equipment-" Her eyes focused on a place above his head, her beautiful eyes widening. "ZANE! _LOOK OUT_!" She shrieked. Zane turned fully, fatalistically, to see Kai holding out the Taser.

"Bu-bye, nindroid!" He cackled, and clicked the deadly yellow button.

What Zane felt then was a mixture of agony and sweet, blissful pain; with the lightning striking roughly against his panel, jolting every last piece of old equipment inside of him into destruction, he felt something like a cold peace overcoming him, even though it was painful. Honestly, it was painful. He didn't quite know the concept of pain too well, but he could feel this, and the sickening feeling it gave him inside, that tingling of the masses, gears, springs, locks inside of him, they all broke that day, jostling him into a deadly whirring overcoming themselves. The Taser's rays electrified everything into oblivion, a mass destruction of every working fiber inside of Zane. He gasped against it. It felt horrid, yet sweet. He felt his eyelids flutter in the dim screams of everyone behind him.

He saw Kai retreat grimly, with Pythor wriggling at his side, falling back into the shadows. He saw Caroline lean forward in front of him with tears (real tears!) streaming down her face. His father had told him he'd automated Caroline to be more in touch with her emotions, more in tune with humanity. That was fine, Zane had said. He was old; almost too old to go on. His equipment was outdated by years and years of new sciences, sciences that his father had mastered, but Zane hadn't been a part of. He was an old robot, almost too old. He would be dust soon enough anyway. The Taser was only a relief.

He saw the flurry of green smoke under his heavy lidded eyes, and the rush of the samurai's retreat behind him. Jay and Lloyd paraded into his view; a moment later, he saw Cole, actually looking like Cole now, his face broken by tears and shock. He couldn't focus on their faces, though; the Taser had disrupted the function inside of him that allowed him to maneuver his eyes properly. Instead he focused on a point far, far above him, where the clouds drifted over the sun. Big, gray clouds, but not storm clouds. Rain clouds.

_This desert is peculiar, _he thought faintly. _Storms, rain...I wonder..._

Caroline touched his face. She sobbed. Faintly, he heard his name, but he didn't recognize it anymore. The rain from above poured down on him, an instantaneous phenomena, a brand new deal to life's bidding in this desert made of odd things. He could faintly see the faces of these men and this woman hovering over him, but for some reason, he didn't know who they were. Strangers, perhaps. He'd come upon strangers. Beautiful strangers...

When he collapsed, it was almost too good to be true. He was ready to die.

The last gear ceased twisting inside of him, ceased its clockwise rotations, forcing the rhythmic clicking of a heartbeat inside of him to cut off shortly. There was a flitting of small, electrical sparks, parading across his chest, a lightning strike of death warning them. His cheek and arm twitched simultaneously. A function inside him alerted that there was _Danger, Danger! System error! _The others watched in horror, unsure of what to do. The electricity fluttered across his face. His body jerked in a horrifying spasm, a final movement, the smoke arising from beneath the panel, rusted shut, an omen of doom. His last breath left him in a heavenly sigh, fluttering into the unseen winds above him in the form of a gentle dove, caressing the ways of the world. The final twitch of his eyelid across his eye peeled apart, revealing the mechanical clockwork beneath. It gave a hiss of protest underneath the pouring rain, a little screech as the system flooded, overcome by Mother Nature's gift. The robot spasmed again, once more. And then…there was nothing.


	7. Chapter 6: THE END

**To clear up any misconceptions of Cole's return from the dark side: When Lloyd electrocuted him (it was Lloyd, right?) it kind of shocked him out of his daze, but when he saw Zane murdered by Kai, it propelled him COMPLETELY out of the darkness. I forgot to add a little snippet of that in there, so some of you may be just a **_**tad **_**confuzzled. Sorry about that! :) **

**I tried to put as much emotion as I can without breaking my heart any more in this chapter—I want to portray **_**all**_** the feelings of the characters, maybe a little minus Misako because, well, what's she gonna do? :/ I feel like she didn't know Zane too well, so she's not going to have much of a reaction to his death. I really wanted to have this chapter show more of what everyone was feeling—in the beginning, it kind of describes what everyone's doing, but more towards the end, I'm going to put a little more depth into what everyone's **_**thinking**_**. Or, well, what they CAN think. I previously lost my best friend Caroline to a drunk driver two years ago, and I just remember not being able to think at all for a long, long time. I wanted to make her be remembered in a way that I think she would smile at if she was still here. That's partially why I'm giving Caroline a bigger part in the story rather than having her be a background, nothing-to-do-with-anything OC like Sakura and Ellecia and their brothers, who you probably won't hear anything from because they bored me to death. :/ Which is probably a tragedy on seven different levels in the writing world when your own characters bore you, but they were there because they **_**had **_**to be, not that I wanted them to be! **

**But. Anyway. That's a little briefy on who Care is and the others, and what you can expect from this chapter. Those of you who were hoping to have clarification on the Jay, Nya, and Cole situation might have to wait a second! Apologies by the dozen, but I needed to end things with Zane first. :( Which, by the way, SHATTERED MY INSIDES HAVING TO DO! But there's a reason for it which you guys will figure out a little later on in the story. I love Zane **_**dearly**_**, and having to kill him was **_**awful—**_**even making Kai murder him was killing me! But again, you'll FIND OUT WHY! I actually cried writing this chapter, so I hope it's as emotional as I could manage to make it. So. **

**Thank you guys for reading my super long intro, and thank you for sticking with me throughout the whole NIGHTMARES FOR A NINJA career so far—you guys are amazing and I don't know what I'd be doing half the time if not writing for you all. May a higher entity watching over us all bless your souls! **

**IN LOVING MEMORY OF CAROLINE R. LEONE**

**1997-2011**

_**Ask yourself: Is it worth it**__**? © **_

_**Don't drive under the influence. By taking that one **_

_**small step in the wrong direction, you're also taking the last of hers. **_

_**She'll never walk again because you got behind that wheel. **_

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_6. The End_

"Hurry, hurry, get him aboard, quickly now!" Julien waved his arms through the dark of the storm, a thick wall of rain blocking his sight. He squinted to see through the thickness, only able to visualize the rough outlines of the Ninja reboarding the ship. His old eyes focused harder, a strain to see his only family through the rain. He held his hand over his brow line like a visor. "Come now! Hurry!"

Caroline scrambled over the railing, catching her boot on the wooden planks just barely before collapsing into the puddles, becoming little lakes scattered along the surface, condemning the wood to fend for itself. She could barely feel herself fall, feel the way the water splashed her face as she laid numbly on her side, trying to figure out how in the world she was supposed to push herself back up.

Jay shoved Lloyd over the railing. The green ninja barely caught his balance. He looked around at the familiar surroundings—the mast, the stairs leading below the Bounty 2's main deck, the windows showing the machinery/mechanism room—yet he wasn't able to make sense of them. As they'd held meaning to him before, they seemed like numb retreats now, faltered by the way his heart was beating slowly beneath his chest when really it felt like a black hole had sucked his insides dry.

Jay worked as hard as he could to work with reborn Cole to heave Zane's heavy, limp body over the railing. Angus reached down over the railing, his quick small body allowing him to have scampered up the anchor's rope to warn Julien of...Jay swallowed the lump in his throat. Watching Zane's head fall back limply as if there was no life in him in the first place was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do.

Cole pushed with his shoulders, trying to somehow catapult Zane over the side, using every last ounce of strength his unpossessed body could force. The rain fell hard against his bare chest, working welts the size of his fist into his skin. He finally, with the holy release of Zane onto the Bounty's deck, was able to move aside for Jay to haul himself up over before helping himself up with a divided feeling of loss contorting his insides.

Angus and Lloyd carefully carried Zane's limp form into the mechanical room, moving quickly as they tried to somehow make this easier. On the examination table, they laid him gently. Lloyd's heart wrenched at the sight of Zane's open eyes staring into the ceiling, the life drained from the icy blue irises. With the awful task of powering down, there was no illuminating light behind them, nothing but dim, cold, false irises in the coldest, most dead stare Lloyd had ever seen.

Nya ran up the steps into the pouring rain, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She squinted to see through the heavy water pouring down on the deck of the Bounty, the crack of thunder loud in the distance. She licked the water drizzling between her lips, a refreshment to her clenched throat. Behind her, Misako rested a comforting hand in the curve of her shoulder. Their talk had been long and tedious, but it had also driven Nya to a conclusion, as heartbreaking as it had to be to make it. She glanced around the deck and saw two familiar forms hustling across the deck—she could make out that black hair anywhere. She gasped. "Cole!" She yelled. The figure turned, startled, as she plowed Into him, almost completely knocking him off his feet. He was soaking wet, clinging rain to her nightclothes, but she didn't care. She only felt the greatest of happiness she'd ever encountered, a feeling of immense, intense flying, a force her heartbeat quickened to feel. She'd been without him too long. Nya would've clung to him forever, except his gaze rested fearfully in the direction of the mechanism room. She frowned. "Zane..." He murmured softly. Nya's heart stopped.

Jay ran into the mechanism room, flinging open the door, ignoring the reunion on the deck. Zane lay limply on the table, his clothes soaked raw, clinging to his skin. The Tinkerer had forced him to shear his shirt, tossing the wet cloth aside onto the exile of the floor. The panel, rusted, was being attacked by Julien's crowbar, a seemingly cruel punishment for Zane. His heart screamed as the Tinkerer angrily, forcibly, quickly tore at the panel, to no avail. He howled with anger. Desperation bled from his face so painfully Jay felt his heart tear. He hustled toward him. "Careful! You'll break him..."

Never in his life had Jay thought he would say those words.

Caroline pulled out a small, screwdriver-like tool from the drawer placed in the corner of the workshop, tears pouring down her face. She hoped, _prayed _with every fiber of her being that they could save Zane. As she rushed back to her father, she worked the point of the tool into the fine edge between the panel's side and Zane's skin, trying to pull a chink in the dooming rust. Caroline didn't understand why, but she felt like she had been torn into two, her whole everything ripped in half by this dooming thing that she'd been taught, _created_, not to feel. She'd been programmed not to react to death. This agony she felt was forbidden—so why was she feeling it?

Cole plowed into the room. Running to Zane's bedside, he grabbed the nindroid's hand, giving it the most comforting squeeze he figured he could manage. Beside him, Caroline sobbed audibly as she worked at his panel. Nya ran to Jay's side and, horrified, stared at what once was Zane but now was the mechanical corpse of the nindroid they'd known and loved. Cole felt the freezing cold of death loom over him, the aura surrounding the body lying before him shattering his heart into fragments, fragments so small, he'd never be able to fit the pieces back together.

This was what it felt like.

As Caroline wrenched open the panel, Julien pounced on it, using his wrenches and screwdrivers quickly, a skill devised from years of speed-repairing his robots. He was so desperate, he felt like a crazed, cave-driven man. He didnt know what he would do if he lost Zane. He didn't think he'd be able to live without him. No, he didn't think; he KNEW he couldn't. When he was forced to the island with the monster, he constantly thought about his son, constantly wondering if he was okay, if he was getting enough rest, if he had a place to stay. All these ifs you considered as a parent, because you wanted what was best for your child, wanted what was right for them. You didn't think twice when it came to them. Everything in you was just for them, and emotion was always there, always a factor in your life because you loved them so, so much. And whenever you looked at them, you felt it. It was real emotion. You'd look at them and see just how much they've grown, think about how you've helped them in their journey through life. Thinking about what strengths they've gained, what weaknesses they've overcome. When a smile came to their face, you'd see the truth behind it: Your child was happy. And so were you. You thought about the days when they were younger, just taking their first steps; the lessons you taught them; the way they grinned when they accomplished their first real, true goal. For Zane, it had always been perfecting his cooking. He'd been so determined to wield that spoon like a weapon. Every time he mastered a dish, Julien had watched triumph pour over his face. He knew just how Zane felt: accomplished. Why? Because he'd done it himself. He'd been a wonderful parent. He'd been all Zane ever needed him to be.

And every parent dreaded that phone call, every parent dreaded that knock on the door when they'd fling it open to find the police officer standing grimly on their steps. Julien had feared that instinctively, although he'd always known Zane was built to forge through, not collapse at the seams. But what he feared more was the day he Expired—the day his mechanical technologies and inner functions ceased the proper work. When one gear clogged, all the others would clog, too; a fatal chain reaction in which ended in Zane faltering a stance in the middle of an action he hadn't anticipated would kill him. Julien had never hoped to see his Expiration. Never, not in a million years. He'd programmed Zane to last longer.

But it appeared the slightest of things could go wicked. He pulled, tugging at the gears, but even as they limply complied on their rotational axis, Julien had a false hope somewhere in his heart. They still steamed from the electrical charge Angus had informed him had caused Zane's faltering clockworks. Each panel, every chip, every switch had been affected by the blow; not to help the matter, this freak downpour had only proverbially squashed the chicken running uselessly without his head. He refused to see the fault in the stars, though, while running across the room in search of a new memory chip plate to restore inside of Zane's chest. While he was there, he figured he'd search for more efficient gears. He sifted through the boxes for correctly matching sizes.

Normal parents feared seeing the white or black body bags lying on the metal stretcher aback the hospital while the coroner zipped the last of the zipper to the top, sealing their children's fate. But Julien feared the gruesome day when his child would lie atop the metal table smoking out his insides, a goodbye forgotten in the clutches of time.

Caroline collapsed. Lloyd sidestepped as she fell to her knees, unable to hold her own weight anymore; the sobs shaking her body made the whole table shake. He watched down on her with no clue what to do, until finally, with a fleeting thought, he knelt on the floor beside her and cried, too.

Cole clung to Zane's hand, pulling the cool fingers to his lips, blinking so hard the tears rolled down his cheeks in a race to the finish line of his chin. "It's gonna be okay, Frosty," he whispered against Zane's skin, even though the lie didn't help none. "It's gonna be okay..."

Misako reached down to help Lloyd and Caroline up. The sweet, heart faced queen of adventure had become a broken, shattered soul, her heart broken beneath the surface, unredeemable for refunds. As a parent, Misako couldn't imagine what Julien was feeling; then again, she didn't want to know. She placed a hand to Lloyd's shoulder as he pulled Caroline's slight body against his, pressing his cheek to her hair as they both sobbed uncontrollably.

Jay stared into Zane's cold, bottomless black eyes. The life in them was gone.

"Maybe if I can just find a piece that is the same size as his old one," Julien rushed towards where Zane's corpse lay, holding six different gears in his hands. "I can replace them, and fix him!" He began twisting at a bolt, his old, slow arm jerking in quick unnatural movements. Across the table from Jay, he saw the dread in Cole's naturally gray eyes deepen, for he was thinking a similar subject as Jay was: It wasn't going to be possible.

Jay felt his insides raw with the wool steel of life scratching at him. His mind seemed seven steps behind reality. His body was out of tune with the truth lying in front of him as obvious as a freaking body bag. Zane could've been lying in his coffin and Jay never would've been able to understand any of it. He felt like a little kid after his grandparents had died; he'd attended the funeral silently, quietly, without quite being "in the know," so to speak, of the everlasting events confining his old grandfather and mother into the ground beneath his feet. It didn't seem humanly possible that Zane, of all people, had been the first to go down so valiantly, so bravely. And at Kai's _hand. _It was the evil that had corrupted Kai, that incessant color green that seemed to be sitting atop everyone's shoulder like the evil parrot. He didn't understand what significance it held to anything, but there was something; it was this green shade that had killed his brother, his best friend, his nindroid. A nindroid who now collapsed under the weight of the world. Who'd never hurt anyone (who wasn't evil) _ever. _

Zane had been trying to undo a wrong, correct his fault as he froze Caroline instead of Pythor. Jay had watched in impatience. The ongoing debate of deciding whether or not he should jump from the anchor and help him had been struggling in his mind when he saw Kai hold up that Taser a beat too late. Instantly after he'd seen that happen, there had been a debate no longer. Jay hadn't wasted any time crossing the thick sands, ignoring the noises of Cole's gasps behind him, a startle from his electrified daze. He could never describe to great intentions what awful feelings had completely torn through his mind and heart at that exact moment, even as the branches of blue lightning curled around Zane's form, jostling him from his nindroid behavior. After Caroline had shattered her binds of ice, Jay joined her kneeling in the sand, soon accompanied by Lloyd's his nail-torn face and Cole's admittedly still very dazed but half normal expression.

Watching the emotion slowly drain from Zane's face had been the hardest. Yeah, Zane had this dumb blank expression on all the time, but it was _emotion, _Jay had decided, that was portrayed differently than others'. But when Zane had been electrified, all that had slowly disappeared. The blankness was gone, leaving his eyes empty as their iridescent lights dimmed to a gloom. Zane's convulsions in the sand had made the real, true feeling of a shattered soul wash over Jay. It made him reach so many conclusions he'd never actually considered before in his lifetime, but here they were, blatant and obvious as the death in front of him.

You didn't realize how much you could love someone, how dependent you were on just their very presence in the room, until they couldn't inhabit your world anymore. Until they no longer stood by your side, you didn't understand how much you needed them. Jay needed that sense of security from Zane. He _needed _the little comments that the nindroid made that ended up in laughter because no one could help it. If there was no Zane in the world, who would walk around in his cheesy pink apron with a pie in his hands? If there was no Zane in the world, who would give direct numbers and positions to you even if you didn't ask him to? If there was no Zane in the world, who would walk in on you when you were getting dressed because he had no sense of personal space? Who would play peacekeeper? Who would sing like an idiot when his funny switch turned on? Who would be obsessed with a mechanical bird who he always referred to as 'friend'? Who would see strange snakes in the doorway? Who would see invisible birds soaring through the sky? Who would do all these quirky little things that made Zane be Zane because he could breathe and because he could breathe, however much he didn't mean to, he would do these things that made you love him so much; he'd do these things because he was Zane and because he just _could _and because because _because BECAUSE—_

And because of Zane…there were no more because's to describe, because of the one because left: Because there _was _no Zane. And that very thought alone made it so hard to breathe that Jay couldn't see anything in front of his face for lack of oxygen. He couldn't imagine a world where Zane didn't exist. He'd never lived in one. What would he do without the nindroid? How would he survive?

Cole closed his eyes, forcing himself to take deep breaths, the breaths he usually would if he were exercising in the morning. Deep, long breaths designed solely for calming and stimulating the lungs' activity every minute. He was reminded of this by Jay subconsciously as the other ninja practically hyperventilated in the other corner.

Cole felt terrible. To think he'd spent the majority of Zane's last moments with the forced intent to kill was sickening. He hadn't tried too hard to battle the ever-rising smoke Samokai had blown upon him when the doorbell had rung that morning at Sakura's after Cole's miraculous recovery. His memories of this time in life were dim, barely audible, but their cries to remain remembered were the only thing tying him down to their hellish qualities. After trying out his legs from their consistent misuse, Sakura had turned him with a gasp, where he'd found the skeleton hovering in the doorway. From what Cole could gather using the memories he had and the lack of memories he'd wielded when faced with Samokai, the old foe he didn't recognize, it appeared that Samokai led the village. He'd been hot on the notion that Cole—remembering himself to embarrassingly enough think his name was Kai—was interested in putting on a samurai helmet and stepping forth to battle. It had taken Samokai six persuasive techniques and one pinch of green powder to turn Cole into the mega weapon they could use against the nearing ninja. That had turned out poorly, except the fact that in the process of victory, they'd lost Zane.

His heart wrenched. He couldn't help this falling feeling in his stomach, the way anger ignited inside him. How could Kai do this, to his own _brother? HOW? _It was absurd. Cole hadn't even seen the smallest of flickers of pain or regret in Kai's eyes as he shocked the life right out of Zane—he'd only seen that sick determination to prove a point. Kai had always been a haughty bastard, but with the way he hovered over Zane's body _laughing _had been the turning point. Cole realized, with a start, that this was the _end. _This wasn't the band of brothers, as ninjas, fighting evil anymore. No, it was worse. Kai had sunk to the dark side; Zane was nothing but a piece of rotting _junk _lying on the table in front of him; Sensei Wu was lying in the ground in the cemetery off Ninjago City; and he'd allowed _himself _to become so possessed, he had the intent to kill Lloyd by _ripping his damn face off._

And the thought of it made it so difficult to breathe, he couldn't move.

Cole watched Zane's face for a moment longer. Zane. Gone. Those two words lingered in his mind, a ghost looming over his shoulder, a little demon poking at his back. The Tinkerer ran back, crying something about replacing the gears. And Cole could tell, deep inside his black heart, that Julien was struggling to accept this, just as they all were. Cole didn't want to believe it. He decided he didn't _have _to. Zane wasn't dead. He was just…sleeping.

_Oh, who am I kidding? _He thought, and dropped Zane's hand. _Don't lie to yourself, Cole. You know it. You do. _He stared hard down at the body, mangled, torn by the rain. Little raindrops of water plopped down the side off of the table, creating a pool on the floor beside Lloyd's feet. Everyone stood there, dripping water onto the floor, soaking wet in the middle of a room full of mechanics, staring at someone who wasn't coming back, who _never _was coming back. Who was _gone. _Forever. What was the point, then? Staring at him wasn't going to save anyone's life.

Where Cole's heart should've been, there was nothing but a giant, black hole that someone had punched right out of him.

Suddenly very angry, he slammed his fist on the table, jostling Julien. He clenched his fists, pressing them against the table, trying to control the rage blooming from his insides, threatening to be let out. Screw this. He growled profanities right and left by the dozens, all aiming them at Kai, who wasn't near but should hear them anyway.

Jay rounded the table, grabbing Cole's shoulder. Cole flicked soggy hair out of his eyes, watching Jay stare at him with this dead, cold look. It was as lifeless as the body spread out before them. And all Jay did… was stare.

"Aha! Got it!" Lloyd peered over Caroline's head at Julien as he tossed aside an old gear. Caroline clung to him for whatever reason she did, but Lloyd didn't turn her away, instead embracing her, knowing that if it was him he would've needed the comfort, too. Really, he had no clue who she was. She was one of the robots who worked aboard the _Bounty 2 _and that was just about it on the background details, other than the fact that she had been the one to steal Lloyd from the hospital, bringing him back to the ship. He was still a little choppy on story details, but from what he'd known as he woke up, Caroline had been aware of a cure to save Lloyd. Then, as he'd woken…He'd been cured.

Suddenly, trying to think of anything but Zane in a refusal to believe it was the end, he turned to Misako, breathing in the tears and frown on her old face. "Mom?" She glanced at him. "Where's Dad?" He realized he hadn't seen his father since he'd told his parents that he wanted to kill Garmadon, a fate in which had been driven by Lloyd's anger and rage at his father's evil wrongdoings.

Misako's face darkened. "Your father left long ago," she said flatly.

"What?" Lloyd gasped. Everyone turned their heads towards them, except the Tinkerer, working determinedly on Zane's panel. Lloyd winced. _No Zane_. "Why?" Jay asked at the same time Nya said, "What for?"

"He didn't want to deal with you any longer, Lloyd." Misako spoke only to her son, a flat monotone that caused him to shake his head in disbelief. Though he'd never blame his parents for their sudden hatred, he couldn't believe there was no goodbye in there, at all, for some reason. Did he _deserve _a goodbye? Not really. Why did it shock him so much, then?

"Wait, so Papa G just up and left?" Jay asked. "Seriously. Whoa."

Misako barely glanced at him, instead crossing her arms over her chest. Her gaze was cold, flat, and unconcerned. It was a disappointment Lloyd had never been bestowed before. He'd _really _screwed up, he knew. "I, too, was just preparing to leave when Nya asked for some assistance," she continued. "If not for her man problems, I'd have been long gone by now."

Under the dim, rocky light, everyone glanced at Nya. Since there was only one light, swinging from the ceiling in the turmoil of the ride, no one could see the blush rise deeply above her cheeks, turning her to mush. Lloyd wiped a drizzle of blood from his cheek. The rain had washed off most of it, leaving the five long scrapes down his face and the bloody slice at his throat bare for all to see; however, blood still trickled across the wet surface of his skin.

Lloyd looked at Misako again. The lack of lighting left a shadow over her pleasant face. "Mom…"

"I mean, I would've been halfway through Ninjago by now if you hadn't stopped me," she continued, turning to Nya, now. Nya gave her a disproving glare, but Misako continued, a steamboat plowing through the slush in the river. "Why turn to _me? _Do you think _I _care about your problems?"

Ouch. Misako was being a little _too _vicious. Was she really _that _upset with Lloyd?

A second later, he decided: _Yes. Yes she is._

Misako provided a well enough distraction to take everyone's eyes off Zane, something that they were thankful yet not-so-grateful for. Lloyd glanced at his mother again, watching her ears practically blow steam in Nya's direction, who frowned and cowered against her steely gaze. "I-I thought you could help me," Nya stammered.

"Help _you? _Why would I want to do that? You're the most pathetic creature I've ever seen!"

"MOM!"

"Hey!" Jay stared at her. "Watch it! That's my girlfriend you're talking to!"

Misako rolled her eyes. "You won't be saying that much longer," Misako threatened as Nya shook her head vigorously. Lloyd caught Jay watching both of them with a frown.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Jay, _no!" _Nya waved her hands at him. "Don't listen to her. She's just angry—"

Misako rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, you were drabbling about it to me for the entire hour they were _gone!" _She turned to Jay, drinking in his frown, his shifty gaze flickering back and forth from the protesting Nya and Misako. Lloyd's mother gave a small smile, but not one offering a peace. It warned that Misako had something important to say, and she was _going _to say it. Lloyd had seen it many times on her face. Many times too much.

"Did you really think you were the only one who mattered to her, Jay?" Misako asked. It forced a deeper look of consternation to his face. Nya shook her head vigorously. "Ig_nore _her, Jay!"

Jay looked at both of them, unsure of what to do.

"Did you?" Misako continued. "Answer me!"

Jay's face reddened—that much Lloyd could see under the swinging of the light above. "Well, I-I kind of always couldn't _believe _it, but that's…normal, because I'm, you know, I'm Jay, and—and she's Nya, and so it was a shock to me that she'd ever, like, you know, _go _for me, but—why is this important?"

"_Jay!" _gasped Nya. "Don't listen to her, she's just trying to—"

"Because," Misako went on as though Nya had never spoken, "it's just a shock to me that you'd believe that she'd only ever be with _you."_

"_No! Jay!'_

Now Jay was ignoring Nya. Cole's head had lifted, watching the scene unfold around him. Zane was not forgotten, but he was postponed, the flicker of a thought in the back of their minds but also the biggest thing they were seeing. "What, uh, what are you talking about?" Jay cleared his throat, hands on his hips. His brows furrowed.

"Well the baby, of course," Misako said like it was obvious.

"Baby?" Cole stared, startled, at Nya, who watched him back with a pleading look across her pretty face, a begging for forgiveness—but to who Lloyd couldn't tell. He stared at her, too, a shock. _Like, gross, _he thought.

"Why, a baby!" Julien barely turned to Nya, a smile on his old face. It clashed with Nya's terrified look. "Congratulations!" He cried before turning back to Zane's panel.

"What _about _my baby?" Jay stared hard at Misako. There was also something in his eyes—a begging from himself for there to be a "not what I'm thinking" underneath Misako's words.

"Well, did you ever think that maybe…Maybe that baby belongs to someone else?"

"_Like who?" _Jay's tone had fallen menacingly. The air around them had gone cold, and Nya begged for him to close his ears, to block the lies from himself, but he waved her off. "Be _quiet,_ will you?" He snapped. She drew away with the drizzle of tears trickling down her cheeks in a cascade of waterfall. She began to sob. Lloyd watched his mother.

"Ask him." Misako nodded to what looked like Jay, but when Lloyd followed her line of vision, it landed directly on Cole.

Cole froze. His heart pounded in his ears, the echo of the briefest kiss of memory now tearing this whole reunion apart like paper. He stared hard at Nya, trying to get her to say it wasn't true again, just so he could hear it, but she reached for Jay over Zane's dead body, begging him through her tears. But it was as though Jay had blocked her out. Cole raised his eyes to Jay's, watching so many emotions play songs in his eyes, watching horror and anger and betrayal and hurt crash the little melody you usually saw in the deep green of his irises. Jay was like a book: You could usually read the story in his eyes instantly after he wrote it, a feat in which Cole wasn't digging too much now. But his own stupor dug into his black, empty chest. He didn't think he'd heard correctly. Baby? Okay, he'd heard that. But…_Cole's _baby?

Impossible.

"What…" Jay inhaled, staring at Cole. "Please, please tell me it's not true," he begged, beseeching Cole with the shaking of his head, the restiveness in his eyes probably mimicked by Cole's own. "Please tell me you didn't sleep with her."

"I…" Cole rubbed his forehead. _Crap. _"Uh, didn't?"

"Oh you _LIAR!" _Jay exploded, leaping backward. Chagrin obscured beneath the heavy damper of his bangs, Jay took a moment to rub his hands through his hair, trying hard to believe what was happening. God, so many things were happening. Cole tried his best to fix the wrong he'd done—but then again, glancing down at Zane, look where it had gotten the nindroid.

Either way, Jay was going to kick his ass.

"Jay, _please," _Nya rounded the table, reaching towards him, but Jay swatted away her hands as though they were infected. Cole was finally able to observe, now, the way her pajamas clung to her body, forcing the small, round bump of her stomach to become visible. It was like someone punched him in the gut. _My fault, _he thought. _That's _my _fault._

Oh, Lord, was he going to be sick.

He'd just broken his best friend's heart; he'd just torn it from his chest and stepped all over it. What the hell was he doing? What had he been thinking? It was one stupid little night, when he'd been hanging out over the upper deck of the _Bounty_, catching the brief gusto of wind in the air to calm his nerves. He'd had that stupid nightmare again. The one where his past came back to haunt him. The Monster, as it had climbed through his window, reaching for him, giving a menacing laugh as it laid a hand on his shoulder, just as it had all those years ago. He could actually feel the contoured outline of the indents on its hands as it touched him, jostling him awake. "_Cole,"_ it had whispered, tapping its pretty little pink nails on his arm. "_Cole…I've come back for you!"_

Cole had shivered in the darkness. The stars overhead had been bright, powerful rays of acceptance gliding down on him. The Monster wasn't here, he'd reminded himself. It isn't, and you'll live for another day. You'll be _fine. _

Then Nya had walked up the deck, startled to see him. A fine blush had puckered her cheeks. "Oh, hi," she'd murmured quietly.

"Uh. Hi?"

Cole couldn't remember how it had happened there, but he remembered the way she threw herself into his arms, after the complaining about her fight with Jay, and pressing her mouth against his. He remembered thinking he didn't want to. Thinking about Jay and how wrong it was for him to even consider doing it. How the tiny little feelings he'd felt for Nya were nothing, how he shouldn't feed them because she felt so completely alone, torn by Jay and Kai's arguments, sick of having to fight with them both. Cole had sympathized. He could never imagine how awful it had to be in the midst of it—he knew how awful it was just watching. He remembered thinking he didn't want to see her in that kind of pain, and let her lead.

But now…what had he? A baby he hadn't asked for and a brokenhearted Jay? How could he? How could _she, _when she knew, in her heart, that she loved Jay_? _Or…she was _supposed _to.

Jay was shrieking when Cole came back to focus. "…_Don't BELIEVE YOU!" _He screamed. "I can't _believe _you'd DO THIS TO ME!"

Nya sobbed. "Jay!" She cried. "Jay, please, if you'd just hear me out, it isn't what you think it is!"

"'Isn't what I think it is'?" He repeated incredulously, whirling on her. He gave a loud laugh, bending over into a crouch, fisting his hands to his lips. The ghost of a bitter smile sewed itself to his face. When he stood, he stared at her. "How can it not be what I think it is? It's you being a…It's you _cheating on me _with _him." _He jerked his thumb in Cole's direction. The condescending finger shot a miniscule of lightning in his direction, a zap catching his arm, which actually really hurt, but Cole bowed his head knowing he deserved it. "One of my own _best friends, _Nya! What were you th—no, you know what, I _don't want to know." _Jay dismissed her with a wave of his hand. Tears surged his eyelids. "I loved you with all my heart. _Loved you. _And now…you've just…you've _broken _it." He turned again, facing them, with his face crestfallen, his eyes empty. Cole reached out a hand without thinking, but Jay stared at it like it was offering him a bowl of petrified mouse brains. "First Sensei, then Kai, and then Zane"—his voice cracked—"and now you. What have I done to _deserve _this?" Jay reached into his pocket, removing a small, circular, gleaming object. Tears drizzled down his cheeks. "Here's your stupid ring." He threw it at Nya.

Recoiling, Nya flinched as it bounced off her arm. "Jay, _please—"_

Jay ignored her, storming out the mechanical room, letting in the brief sound of pouring rain before the door slammed shut with a bouncing _bang, _a sound that ricocheted off the walls, the final jagged, cracked note foretelling exactly what a broken heart sounded like.


	8. Chapter 7: MIRAGE

_**Eeeeeekkkkkkk SUPER LONG CHAPTER! XD**_

**I could NOT help myself! 17 pages worth in Microsoft Word of this chapter, which I think I enjoyed writing a lot, because there's a little touch of **_**everything **_**here. No, no, scratch that…I **_**loved **_**writing it. :) So much happens here, you guys might wanna sit down and curl up and get comfy because it **_**could **_**take a while. :D It was an amazing chapter and I feel very accomplished with myself for writing it!**

**I thank you guys so much in advance before you read this for being so wonderful and encouraging in your reviews. You can't get any better than that. Every review you guys bring a smile to my face, and you make my day with every little word. :) It drives me to keep writing, and it tells me that at least **_**some**_**one thinks I can write. Writing has been my savior throughout these things that I've suffered through. I thank you all, and may Elathan the Lord of the Underworld **_**never **_**visit your doorsteps . :) **

**I tried to incorporate a lot of humor into this one, especially on Lloyd's part. :D I'm trying to boost him up to the rank of "peacemaker." I laughed a couple of times myself writing it—(just like my crying when I wrote about Zane)—so I hope I can bring a smile to your guys' faces too. **

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_7. Mirage_

"Why would you tell him that? What is _wrong_ with you?!" Nya exploded, whirling on Misako, the older woman standing still beside Lloyd with a blank, forgetful expression. Bending to pick up what Lloyd guessed was the ring Jay was _going _to give to Nya, accompanied by the question "Will you marry me?", Nya stormed past Cole, past Caroline and Lloyd, past the Tinkerer oblivious to the world so she could run out the door, squeaking it open. She screamed Jay's name into the storm. A loud crack of thunder followed suit in the drenched world outside—Lloyd only caught the briefest glimpse of it, but the deck of the Bounty was practically overflowing with water. Thank heavens for the court side slits in the Bounty's enclosing walls to let out excess water. Or maybe the handymen who'd created the boat. Whoever.

Lloyd looked at his mother. She regarded the room through half-lidded eyes, falsely obtaining a bored expression that didn't seem to fit quite right in the scene. He felt like there was something off. Something wrong. It was like the "Find All The Differences!" activities in the Sunday paper; he kept looking at her glasses knowing that something was not right about them, but unable to locate the correct place that was turning his green ninja mojo upside down.

"It was for the better good," Misako reasoned dimly. She put her hands on her hips while Lloyd continued to stare at her eyes, the dark light casting some kind of shadow throwing his senses off kilter. He frowned, peering closer.

"Yeah, well," Cole bitterly said, shoving himself off the table, his eyes resting on Zane but carrying a distant consistency. "You just cost me a best friend."

Misako shook her disagreeably. "You did this to yourself. I merely sped up the process." She sidestepped for Julien as he ran to a drawer of the red toolbox playing sorrowful in the corner.

"Yeah thanks for that, by the way," Cole touched Zane's hand again. Lloyd refused to look at the corpse, instead watching Cole, feeling the same numbness as he bent down, his eyes shut, brushing his lips across Zane's forehead tenderly. "Goodbye, brother." He touched the base of Zane's chin. As he lingered over him, Lloyd caught sight of the briefest tear slip down Cole's cheek and plummet against Zane's skin, the dampening of the false flesh. Cole didn't hover any longer. He darted from the room quicker than a stalked rabbit. The only reminder that he'd been there was the malaise infecting the air and the lone tear he'd left for Zane.

Lloyd stared at Misako as Caroline wrenched herself from his arms, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes to squeeze the last of her sorrow out. "I think...I shall head to bed," she announced lifelessly. Lloyd watched her for a moment more, catching sight of the scars to Lloyd's face. "But, first, I need to take care of those wounds. Come with me to the infirmary. I shall patch those up for you."

It was a kindness Lloyd didn't deserve, but he smiled anyway. "Sure, in a second. I want to talk to Mom." Caroline nodded, pressing her hand to his arm gently as she passed, whispering a "good night" to her father with the briefest of hugs. She turned her irreverent gaze onto Zane, and with a mangled noise, she bent to press her mouth gently to his. Lloyd double took in the sight, a frown prosecuting his face. Then, Caroline willfully and silently left the room like everyone else, disappearing into the cool winds of rainstorm, an exile to those in heart-wrench.

"I built her," said the Tinkerer from behind Lloyd, "to accompany Zane through his journeys and until the end of time. I've been telling her all about him since I first assembled her. I programmed what memories I have pertained from Zane's previous memory chip into her system so she had some kind of essence of him to accompany her. I've always told her 'Until tomorrow,' when she asked when he was coming. She adored him. Saw all his newspaper clippings and everything. Fell in love with him." Julien chuckled, bent over the toolbox, his arched back the expanse Lloyd could see visible. "And that's just how I wanted it. I built her to fit every need Zane could ever have. They were literally made for each other."

Lloyd frowned. "Okay…" He rubbed his hands inauspiciously over his bloodied sweatshirt, tugging at the zipper. It clung to his dampened T-shirt beneath, sticking to his skin from all that blood. Disgustingly enough, he'd have to pry it off himself when getting dressed for bed. Angus had provided him with more than enough articles of clothing to last him a long while. He'd never have to worry about having less than needed laundry, which was for sure. He tugged at the dried material uncomfortably.

"She thinks there's no hope now, but oh, you all are wrong," continued Julien, a faint smile to his lips as he toyed with the scientific mechanisms inside of Zane's panel. Lloyd eyeballed the little blue wires he tugged from beneath the opening in which had been doored by the famous Memory Switch. In his mind, Lloyd had built himself a sanctuary, a false pretense that this was just Zane heading into the shop for a monthly tune-up. Somehow he'd been able to fool himself into believing that ridiculous lie. The monotonous repeating of it in his head was getting to the point where he was actually starting to use it as a life's lesson to go by: _Every month, a tune up. Every month, a little fixing. It never hurt anyone. _Then, the less than realistic turn to the playbook: _Zane is fine. Just…totally…fine._

There was a shower of sparks as Julien attacked a piece with a magical, unnamable stick of vengeance. Actually, it just looked like a razor. "He'll be as good as new by morning. Oh!" He lifted his head, wiry white hair sticking in a multitude of directions. Beneath his glasses, his eyes lit with a sudden excitement. "Which reminds me! I have a special part for him in my room. I'd been saving it as a surprise, but I might as well put it to use now and surprise him when he wakes, eh?" Julien set down the Bic Razor (or the "tool"…It depended on how picky you were when it came to naming things, but the only version of the strange handheld device was a freaking razor) and patted Zane's flat stomach, visibly caked with wet sand and the marks of lightning's vengeance. "Don't go anywhere, Zaney boy! Father will be back momentarily."

Julien gave a little laugh and hustled past Lloyd, patting him on the shoulder in his pass. Lloyd took the spacious opportunity to wriggle his gaze back to his mother, who still stared at Zane, but instead of her previous expression of _zip, nada, nothing, _there was a faint smirk to her lips. It was one curling the right side of her mouth upward. Lloyd had never quite seen such a thing before. He looked to her glasses again, examining the lenses. _What in the world is so off about these dumb glasses? _He thought. _Are they crooked or something?_

"I guess it's denial," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. He had to get this out quickly before Caroline decided to head to bed; in the moment of truth, he could feel his Cole-induced wounds begin to pound a little.

"I suppose," Misako said. She reached to her face to pull off her glasses, using the hem of her shirt to wipe off excess dirt. She turned to him, giving him a full, head-on glance while she rubbed away the sand; but that wasn't what caught Lloyd off-guard, causing his gasp to become a wrangled noise from the pit of his stomach. It wasn't the fact that her glasses were a little crooked, or the creepy grin that spread across her face like blood flying out a wound.

It was the fact that her eyes, normally a sea blue, had become tree-leaf green.

"Mom!" He gasped, a rising terror. Misako smiled wider.

"Not quite," Misako said, but Lloyd didn't have time to dawdle over with confusion. Misako spun counterclockwise into a blurry, brightening red tornado in the middle of the Tinkerer's mechanical workshop. Lloyd gawked without knowing what else to do other than back up as the tornado spun closer, picking up things and spitting them out as it passed over them, throwing them into the equipment. Things shattered and crashed as it moved closer to Lloyd, who was now backed up against the large flat screen. Plenty of things went down in a flurrious firework of sparks, the machines that Caroline and Julien honored and praised turning into smoking heaps of metal within seconds of each other. He wet his lips, heart pounding wildly in his chest as he searched for the best way to handle this situation, but yelling for help wouldn't work. No one could hear him over the shout of the rain. He instead picked up the nearest piece of anything he could force his hands on—which turned out to be the most random weapon he thought he ever had wielded, but it _did _save his life. Lloyd took the handle of the broom and held it horizontally, holding out the handle away from him, a witty shaft for the tornado to spin right into.

It did.

"_Oof!" _The heavily hooded figure bent over the end of the broomstick, holding onto the handle. Lloyd gasped and groaned at the same time as he took in the deep red-orange fabrics of the cape he'd seen one too many times today. "Good _Lord, _Lloyd, did you have to stab me so hard?" Kai straightened, but he didn't seem as in pain as he had feigned. Instead, he grinned, taking a step back from the end of the broom, dusting off his leather-like gloves like he'd dirtied them. The deep green pulsed from Kai's eyes.

It had been him all along.

"Where's my mother?" Lloyd demanded, holding onto the broomstick like a staff. He narrowed his eyes at the utter annoyance, someone who'd once been respected in Lloyd's world but now held an essence of condemnation, a new ego of cool grievance. Lloyd was face to face with the guy who'd electrocuted his own brother to death all because of this sick, twisted mutiny that had overcome his mind. The power-crazy part of him had taken him over. From what Cole had said, it was destined that Lloyd fight with Kai, two brothers forced into a Great Battle that would eventually take over the fate of the world. He still was sketchy on details, but it was enough for him to tell that Kai had gone off the deep end.

"I told you already. Backup plan!" Kai crossed his arms over his chest triumphantly. "You don't need to worry—she's in the best of care, I promise you."

"_What have you done with her?"_ Lloyd swatted with his broomstick, suddenly feeling like he was ten again—standing up against the snakes all over again, trying to maintain courage from deep inside of him to save his friends. Only, this time, he wasn't trying to _just _save his friends. He was standing before one of the deadliest villains time could approach him with, someone who his senses warned him was driven by power and lust rather than a common sense of right and wrong. This wasn't Kai. This was some format a creature had become of him. The _real _Kai was somewhere beneath that faux armor and flame-colored cape, hidden by the thin silky material stretched across his biceps and legs. Kai tapped his boot impatiently on the wooden planks. Over his shoulder, Lloyd glimpsed Zane's unmoving body, and felt a welt of determination surge from within.

Kai rubbed his wrists. "I told you, I want to decode that map and there's only one link to my prize. Misako will be released without harm if she cooperates with me, once she's done reading my map."

Lloyd growled. "Where did you get it?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "I stole it right off your nightstand. You were right there and you didn't even see it disappear."

"I would've seen you." Lloyd was sure of it. Nothing could've gotten past him in his Arachnaeus-forced stupor; he'd been inhaling every detail he could possibly consume in the time frame it took him to become audibly sick to magically heal. It would've been impossible for him to miss Kai waltz in, grab the map from the nightstand, and leave, considering that ridiculously large headdress he was wearing, the one that looked like flames.

"Oh, please," Kai laughed. "You would _never _have seen me. The effects had already begun my Transition!"

Lloyd frowned. Looks like his little date with the robot doctor had to be cancelled. "Do explain."

Kai flipped a spike from his eyes, "I'd love to run through the whole healing process with you, but I'm a tad short of time." He glanced backwards at Zane, a glance that held no mercy. "The reason I came here _wasn't _to gawk over you and tell you a bedtime story."

"Too bad. Reason, then?" Lloyd righted his grip on the broom.

Kai reached into the folds of his cloak for a mysterious object, concealed by the black of his glove, but once his palm opened to reveal a small, velvet square box, Lloyd frowned. Hesitating, he shifted on his feet, waiting for Kai's big mouth to open in explanation, as it did moments later. "I want my ring back," he said simply.

"What ring?" Lloyd demanded.

"I didn't know what significance it had then," Kai flipped open the little box, revealing a satin ring rest, padded with shades of gold. "But now I understand well enough why I need that ring back."

"Why?"

"It was my mother's. And I intend on using it in the final stage of my Transformation. Which I'd do precisely, except I need the ring in order to do that." Kai curled his lip at Lloyd. "Now where is it?"

"I don't have your stupid ring."

"You do. I saw you. You _have _it." Kai let out a thin, audible breath—a haunting outward exhale preluding the nightmare about to become. It was a threat, Lloyd gathered. He watched Kai's eyes burn a blaze deeper. "I can _sense _it on you." He hissed, _literally. _It sent chills up Lloyd's spine. This was too creepy.

"Dude, you're taking this whole Prince of Darkness thing _way _too seriously. Take a chill pill. I don't _have _your ring."

Kai leapt for him then, Lloyd's second time getting jumped in one day. A quick reaction allowed Lloyd the freedom to turn his broom stick upwards, giving Kai a good knock in the chin. Furious, Kai recoiled, a hiss like the sound of fire dying pulling from between his teeth. An angry red welt puckered on his jaw.

"I had janitor duty four times at Darkley's," Lloyd explained, hefting the broom in his hand. "I'm pretty much a master with these babies."

Kai was speechless for a witty remark to shoot back, instead glancing in Zane's direction. Lloyd saw it coming, but he wasn't able to react fast enough, and for that, he would eternally be sorry. The apologies he said couldn't expand further than they already had. Kai moved quicker than Lloyd had ever seen him go; he wasn't even sure Kai had _moved. _Those condescending fingers of his hovered over Zane's wide open panel as he plucked off the glove concealing his hand, revealing the true form of the fire ninja's proximity: His hand was bore a deep orange, molded from the hottest of molten lava. It fluttered threateningly over the panel. "I'll ruin him forever if you don't give me my damn ring," Kai snarled. Fearfully, Lloyd saw excess lava beginning to dribble towards the tips of his fingers.

He wracked his brain for a solution. Lloyd couldn't think of any better idea other than to obey Kai. What choice did he have? If he didn't, Zane not only would be dead, but he'd be ruined _forever. _There was nothing else to do, for Kai was becoming the better at ruining people's lives, a skill that didn't bode too well in Lloyd's realm. He wet his lips again. "Fine! Fine! Where is it? What does it look like? I'll get it, just—just don't hurt him, okay?"

Kai drew back his hand, a look of accomplishment crossing his face. "I knew you would. It's made of red gold. Quite hard to miss. _Hand it over."_

"I—I don't have it," Lloyd stammered. At Kai's half-mouthed snarl, he continued desperately, holding up both hands with his palms facing Kai. "But wait! Wait! I've seen it! I know where it is!" The memory that hadn't passed in reality not too long ago flickered in his mind. Though it was a memory channeled by pain, it was the exact ring Kai was looking for.

"Oh? Where's that?" Kai put his hands on his hips.

"Nya has it," Lloyd said. "If I can just go get it—"

"Splendid!" Kai cried, grinning. "Let's go together to make sure _you're _not going to backhand me. I swear on your life, Lloyd, if you're playing me, I _will _turn Zane into a pile of melted metal."

"I believe you," Lloyd murmured. And he did.

To the deserted deck of Bounty Lloyd led him, the moon high overhead. The rainclouds had died away. The sky was a beautiful canvas of pale blue stars, watching over the _Bounty 2 _at its docked perch between two tall, large rocks. He hadn't noticed the new hideout. He hadn't even noticed that Angus had flown the magnificent boat into a place of rest, hidden between these large, mountainous stilts of earth. This was a place that wasn't too far from the nearest city, Maolo Town, named after the careening _maolo _rocks jutting from the ground in random spaces of the city. People even lived in the tall rocks. He knew this because Darkley's had sent them on a field trip there once to observe the culture of the "primitive" people. There, they'd be able to refuel, rest, and get their priorities straight for the next stage in their plan. This must've been Angus' intention all along.

Lloyd rounded the mast, curled up for the night, with Kai on his heels, humming an eerie tune beneath his breath. He recognized it from somewhere, yet the tip of his tongue couldn't offer any titles. He slowly descended the staircase leading to the lower deck, or the sleeping quarters of the ninja and robots. He paused at the doorway at the last step when he felt the prickle of something very sharp on the back of his neck.

"Well, _move!" _Kai ordered him. "Or this dagger will go straight through your brain."

Oh, yay. He was being held hostage now.

With Zane's life on the line, Lloyd maneuvered his way through the halls, following the sound of the yelling. All of the doors were wide open except for three, evenly spaced apart; beneath one, a light poured into the hallway. A little revelation told Lloyd there were people awake in there—and also the sound of the yelling was coming from that direction. "_…ing liar!" _someone shouted. He swallowed his fear of the knife at his neck and stepped forward to place three loud raps against the door.

The yelling ceased. There was the heavy sound of a sigh, followed by the creaking of the floorboards beneath their feet as they approached the door. A moment later, it swung wide, hitting Lloyd's pupils achefully with the pouring of light into them so suddenly. Jay scowled at him, a rotten mess. "What do you want, Lloyd?" He growled.

"Hi," Lloyd swallowed hard. He wondered why Jay wasn't reacting to Kai's appearance from behind him until he realized, dimly, an odd assumption in the dark, that Jay couldn't _see _Kai. It would've led Lloyd to hope that maybe Kai had just disappeared, except the fact that he could feel the tip of the dagger biting his skin. "Uh, I need to see Nya's ring."

"What for?" Her voice came from behind Jay. Lloyd's eyes flitted to the space over Jay's shoulder, where he saw nothing.

"Oh, you know," he said as casually as he could manage. If Kai was invisible, there must've been a reason. He tried for the best excuse he could pull up on command. "Cause…I like…sparkly things."

Jay rolled his eyes. "This isn't a time to be acting stupid, Lloyd. Go take a nap or something."

He started to shut the door, but Lloyd wedged his foot next to the doorjamb, flinging a roadblock into the situation. With a groan, Jay flung the door open again, rolling his eyes again exasperatedly. _"What, _Lloyd?"

"I just _really really really _need to see it!" From behind him, Kai chuckled. It made him frown angrily. "Please, Jay? It's really important."

"You're acting strange," Jay said. "What's going on with you?"

"_Don't you tell him I'm here!" _hissed Kai, jamming the dagger deeper into Lloyd's skin. Unexpectedly, he gave a shrill yelp, making Jay flinch back in surprise. Lloyd gave a weak laugh to cover it up.

"I, uh, really have to, um, pee. But I need to see it, like _now, _Jay!"

Jay crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest, eyeing him. Lloyd huffed impatiently. Nya squeezed into the doorway, forcing Jay over a step, cocking her head at him. Her eyes were rimmed with pink from tears, but her stare was hard, a dubious look beneath her furrowed brows. "Lloyd? Is everything okay?"

"Peachy! Now _hand over the ring!" _

"Lloyd?" yelled a voice from above. Lloyd gave a sigh of disappointment, his shoulders dropping with his bowing head as Caroline padded down the hallway in pink, bunny-decorated pajamas pants and a matching, solid pink tank top. She eyed him. "You were supposed to let me fix your face," Caroline said honestly, a sentence that made Kai chuckle. She paused at his side. "Where did you go? Where's Misako? What happened to the mechanics room?"

"Mechanics room?" Jay repeated, eyes flickering back and forth between Lloyd and Caroline.

Caroline glanced at him. "Yeah. Father's going ballistic. Everything's all torn up and messy! What happened? Did you get mad?"

"_No, _I didn't get mad!" Lloyd exploded. Kai twirled the knife in the small hole he'd already dug into Lloyd's skin, forcing a pained squeal and an accompanying wince out of him. He turned to Nya. "_Please, _Nya. I _need that ring." _

"Lloyd, if something's up, you need to tell me—" Nya began.

Jay rolled his eyes, giving a bitter laugh. "Says the hypocrite!"

Nya whirled. "Don't you start again! Jay, I already _told _you—"

Caroline eyed him. "Why do you need the ring?"

"I JUST DO!" Lloyd shouted, blocking out the senseless bickering between the ex-couple and making Caroline blink. Down the hall, he heard a door swing wide, revealing the small, stout form of Angus. _Great, _he thought, and shook his head. "Look. I can't really explain why I need it, but Nya, if you don't give it to me—"

"Oh, gosh, Lloyd, your neck is bleeding!" cried Caroline. She gasped, reaching for it. "There's a bloody hole in your skin!"

"No, don't _touch _it!" Lloyd warned, but Caroline already recoiled, pulling her finger to her mouth with a yelp. "Your hair is _sharp!" _She gasped. "Like a knife blade."

"How ironic," murmured Kai.

Lloyd made the mistake of giving an agitated howl. "Shut _up!" _he watched everyone frown and stare at him.

"Nobody said anything!" Nya insisted.

"Yeesh," Jay muttered.

Lloyd growled audibly. He glared at Nya now, willing her with his eyes to hand it over. "Just. Give. Me. The. Stupid. Ring."

"If it's so stupid, why do you want it?" Caroline inquired.

"Yeah!" Jay agreed. "What's the big deal?"

"What's going on?" the door across the hall swung wide, and Cole stepped out, wearing dark sweatpants, chaperoned by no shirt, revealing his toned, muscled abdomen. His hair was dry, gleaming by the light of Jay and Nya's conference room. He sauntered across the hall towards them.

"Me_ow." _Kai randomly purred. Lloyd squinted in confusion.

"Oh, _come on," _Jay whined. "You _had _to whip out the eight-pack."

Cole's dark eyebrow disappeared beneath his bangs as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I do this all the time."

"I _know._ And it's _annoying." _

Lloyd suddenly understood Kai's cat noise; it was foreshadowing the cat-fight about to erupt between Jay and Cole. He sighed. It seemed like since Zane's death, there be no peace aboard the _Bounty 2 _between any ninja; either or, it'd become an angry all-out battle between the remaining droids and the humans. He felt Kai's blade dig deeper into his neck. He tried to swallow his cry of pain, tears cutting into his eyelids. "_Tick, tock," _he growled.

"Please! Hand it over!" Lloyd reached out his hand to Nya, but she shook her head.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"HYPOCRITE!" Jay yelled, and Nya whirled.

"I told you I didn't mean to!"

"Oh, yeah, o_kay, _because that makes _every_thing _so much better_!" Jay yowled. Lloyd gave a frustrated groan. He didn't want to play Couples' Counselor. He wanted that _freaking ring now, _because the pain ebbing like the blooming of a newborn flower at the base of his neck was starting to kill him. He'd lost so much blood in these past few days of his life, it was a miracle he still walked. He reached forward, grabbing ahold of Nya, yanking her slight form towards him roughly. He stared into her eyes. She recoiled, grimacing against his scarred, torn face, which admittedly was pretty gruesome to endure. Hopefully the power of wounds would change her mind.

"_Nya," _he said with forced patience. "_Give me the ring."_

"Lloyd, I will, I just want to know—"

"_Arrauughhh!" _He howled, because Kai had forced the blade into a slice across the back of Lloyd's skin, tearing into his flesh. He shoved her away from him to clutch at his cut, knocking her backwards into Jay, who caught her against him. They watched Lloyd writhe, wide eyed. He hissed out pained air from his teeth while trying to force back his tears. "I'm in _pain!" _He yelled. "Give me the stupid ring!"

"What is the _matter _with you?!" Nya gasped, horrified.

Kai gave a sigh as Lloyd fell to his knees, applying pressure to the cut to make it hurt less. He glared up at him, at the empty space no one else could see the fire ninja inhabited. Kai examined his blade thoughtfully. It was true, then. He really _had _gone to the dark side. No friend of Lloyd's would've done that. No one.

"This is fun and all," Kai said, and from the startled screams and gasps from those around him, Lloyd knew they could suddenly see him, though his appearance hadn't shifted at all from what the spinjitzu master could examine. "I live on a tight schedule, and I can't bear to waste any more time. Nya, be a good little sister and hand over my ring." With his glove outstretched, Kai beckoned his fingers in a _hand it over _motion.

Jay stared at Kai. Abhorrence at the pure abomination standing before them conveyed a similar expression of reproval on each of their faces. It was the coetaneous thought above Lloyd that made Jay dive for Kai, attempting to attack him with vengeance for Zane's eradication. He flung himself towards the fire ninja gone evil, but Kai yawned, smacking him aside as though he were no more than a fly. Jay was propelled into Cole as they both fell in a heap many feet away.

Caroline lifted her leg to land a blow against Kai's chest. She was quick—quicker than many of the others. She ducked Kai's outstretched hand as he stumbled backwards. Then, with the motion of a handstand, she flung her long legs towards his face, but Kai grabbed her ankles, swinging her backwards so she landed in an empty room behind him, his aim perfect.

Angus attempted to punch Kai, but the little boy's fist was caught in the heavy envelope of Kai's glove. He pushed aside Angus and stepped forth, kneeling beside Lloyd, who shook under the intense pain. He leaned forward to breathe in Lloyd's ear, "Move, and I'll burn you to death."

Lloyd didn't move a muscle.

Kai straightened, his boots leaving heavy footsteps against the old, ratting wood. Nya backed up in fear. Her eyes were the size of circular plates. "Now," Kai said patiently, "hand over my ring, or so help me Elathan, I'll burn them _all."_ He motioned backwards to Lloyd and the stumbling Cole and Jay as they rose to their feet. Nya groped for the pockets of her jeans, hands trembling. She located the thin, red band of gold, and dropped it into Kai's palm. With a satisfied sigh, he folded it into his hands, rubbing it together greedily.

"Where_ver _did you get it, hmm?" He asked, genuinely interested.

Nya's voice trembled with fear. "J-Jay."

"Oh?" Kai turned, eyeballing Jay, who stood ruggedly in the doorway, a look of pure _hatred_ on his face. "Where did _you _get it, then?"

"You gave it to me," growled Jay darkly. "You were going through your crap box of fan mail one day and it popped out of an envelope. You said it was ugly and threw it at my face without bothering to read the letter. You gave me a bruise on my cheek, you chucked it so hard."

Kai pursed his lips prudently, eyebrows furrowing. He seemed to be wracking his memory for the event. But then, he shrugged, devouring the circular ring with his eyes hungrily. He smiled. "Very well. As I did say, I have a tight schedule, and I've already killed so _much _time. I must be on my way. But this isn't the last you'll see of me, ninja. That I can promise." His eyes fell on Lloyd, curled in pain on the floor with Caroline's arm wrapped around his shoulders, pressing a wet cloth she'd retrieved from the nearest bathroom against his open wound. He shivered beneath it. He felt sick. Kai grinned devilishly. "Especially _you, _Lloyd Garmadon. Especially you."

Nya screamed as Kai burst into a pillar of flames in the middle of the bedroom, scorching a burn mark of black ash into the floorboards. Jay screamed her name, darting around the flame to run to her side with Cole at his heels. Caroline forced Lloyd to his feet. The fire licked across the floor, dividing the three in a love triangle from Angus, Caroline, and Lloyd, shrieking for the others. Lloyd thrust his hand outwards, the freezing ice pouring from his inner strength, dampening the flames immediately as the clashing elements combined, a turmoil of white and red. The battle between the two continued to forge; the ice threatened to kill the fire, but the flame roared above it. From the other side, Lloyd heard Nya screaming in agony. "_Nooooo!" _Lloyd shouted, and despite his wounds, thrust himself into the fire, leaping across the river to reach them. Nya was huddled against the bed, smacking her arm, which had caught the red flame. Jay helped her remove her jacket, though it was frantically mishoped. Cole took Lloyd's hand and helped him over. From the other side, Caroline yelled for him. He took ahold of Nya's waist. "Hold on and _close your eyes!" _He commanded, and she obeyed. If not for her screaming, crossing over would've been easier, but Lloyd was just grateful he'd got her to the other side in one piece.

He returned for Cole and Jay, who were atop the bed now. "_Yyyow!" _Jay yelped at the tongue of fire that grabbed ahold of his foot. Cole stepped on it.

"Grab my hand!" Lloyd yelled for either one of them, but they looked at each other. There wasn't time for debate, but a bonding seemed to be erupting anyways, despite Lloyd's impatience.

"Go!" Cole yelled, coughing. "Take Jay!"

"No way! You go!" Jay waved the thick, black smoke out of his eyes. Lloyd could barely see either of them through the darkness.

"Jay, I can't! You need to go! You need to go for Nya!"

"What about you?" Jay choked, grabbing Lloyd's hand and yanking him up. "She loves _you!" _

Cole wiped his cheeks, shorn by thick, heavy black ash. "You crazy? It never _was _me!"

Jay shook his head. "How couldn't it be? She did it with _you." _

"It was a"—_cough cough—"_stupid mistake. She needed a friend and I offered myself in the wrong way. It was the worst thing I've ever done, Jay, because it means I've lost _you, _and not even Nya is worth your friendship."

Jay stared with wide eyes at Cole, a look that meant there was something going on in Jay's brain that neither Lloyd nor Cole could see. Heck, Lloyd could barely even see _him, _but the look on his face was priceless. No dollar amount could ever match up to the way he stared at Cole now, with happiness, forgiveness, and even a little bit of love in there somewhere. Lloyd would've loved to stick around, watching the bonds reunite between them like someone hit the replay button, but he had to break the moment. He flung ice onto the ground to hold back the roaring fire just a little while longer. He couldn't hear the shouts of anyone from behind the wall of flame anymore. Above them, there was a hard, loud crack as the roof over their heads began to cave. "Guys!" Lloyd shouted over the flame.

Cole coughed. Then he did something horrible that Lloyd and Jay would regret forever. He shoved Jay towards Lloyd, knocking them both off the bed onto the ground. "GO!" He coughed loudly, and raised his hands above his head to try and push the collapsing boards of the sky above them back together. "_Go, Lloyd!" _

Lloyd nodded, tears falling down his cheeks. "_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" _Jay wailed as Lloyd wrapped his arms around his waist, propelling them forwards through the flame. It was hot against Lloyd's skin, but it wasn't difficult for him to move through; as the ultimate spinjitzu master, he was able to survive all elemental destruction. He tore through each barricade as Jay screamed behind him. When they reached the end of the maze of scorching heat, they collapsed in the hallway outside the bedroom, the flames spewing out the doorway, hot, angry tendrils reaching for them. They scooted backwards to avoid being eaten up by it when they heard the large, loud, echoing crack from inside the room, and the following responsive noise of the ceiling caving in on top of Cole.

They shrieked in unison. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The flames walked out the room, running in little formational lines across the floor like they were following the path of oil, their destination Lloyd and Jay, pressed against the wall in fear. The fire screamed out the doorway, reaching for them. Lloyd felt the bottom of his foot envelope in flame. He screamed at the pain. Beside him, he saw Jay being completely _consumed _by the fire, the last Lloyd ever saw of him a swirling, red human torch, the end of the lightning ninja completely. And it wasn't long after that he felt himself completely rotted by the fire, an expiration of all expirations, the death by his own best friend. The last he saw was the red and orange flames fighting to be the first to take out his eyes, burn them to nothing in the pits of his sockets, running through his mouth and down his throat to completely eat him alive. He shrieked, the fire crawling down his trachea, an ending's doom, _consolace—_

Then there was nothing.

Lloyd gasped.

Glancing around him, he found himself lying in the middle of the bedroom he'd just witnessed blow up in flames, only to find there was hardly a scratch made to the décor, the outline of the room. Everything lay as it had before the fire had begun: the bed pressed against the wall, the nightstand lying lonely without the assistance of a book or flower pot to spruce it up, and the window overlooking the breathtaking scene of a big, giant rock obscuring the view. He looked around wildly. Around him lay his friends, all groaning, staring in hysteria at the unchanged room around them. Jay and Cole sat up from their hunched over positions, good as new, their forms untouched by the flames that Lloyd had seen take them over. They were _fine. _And so were Nya and Caroline and Angus—it looked to him as though that very fire had never happened.

"What on _earth…" _Cole muttered, rubbing his forehead.

Jay turned to him. His eyes widened. "Cole!" He gasped, and flung himself at his brother. He wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. "Cole, you're alive!" He cried happily.

"I guess I am," Cole murmured dazedly. He smiled at Jay. And what was a miracle was that Lloyd watched Jay hug him tighter, their earlier feud momentarily forgotten, a forgiveness reached in the dark hours of the night. It made Nya smile, too.

"What _was_ that?" Caroline asked.

"We saw you guys die," Nya said, her voice cracking. "I thought—I thought you really were—"

Lloyd frowned. He shook his head, staring at a fixed point on the floor in front of him. He felt the back of his neck—dry of any blood. He frowned deeper. Consternation consumed him. Had that all been a mirage too?

Then he got it: _a mirage._

"He put it in our minds!" Lloyd gasped, reaching a higher point of understanding. Everyone looked at him. "He _put those images _in our minds on _purpose! _It's how he stayed invisible from you guys—he made it look like he wasn't there!"

Nya groped through her pockets as Jay pursed his lips. "How is that possible?"

"I—I don't know," admitted Lloyd, "other than the fact that he said something about a Transition and getting powerful and that ring had something to do with completing his Transition…"

"Ring's gone," Nya announced.

"So _that _much was real," Cole said. "But I still don't get it. Why would he do it?"

"Why would he do _any _of this?" Jay countered. "He freakin' killed _Zane. _He stole the engagement ring."

"And my mom," Lloyd added, though it didn't help to fix the situation. "Now that he has her, she's the only one who can decode the map to find the Shadow Key."

Everyone paused, taking a moment to process it. Then, it was up to Jay to retrace his steps and look directly to Lloyd questioningly. "Wait, did you say 'Shadow Key'?" When Lloyd nodded, he asked, "What's that?"

Lloyd sighed. Everyone was so out of tune with each other, it was going to take a lot of explaining. He guessed that their night wasn't quite yet over. He flexed his fingers, itching for a coffee to keep his body from falling over right then and there, collapsing in an exhausted heap. He rubbed his hands down his face. Kai was becoming stronger by the second—the evil inside of him was becoming more and more powerful with everything that he did to the ninja—and the time they wasted now stressing over everything that had happened today was time lost in figuring out how to approach this really crappy situation they were sitting in.

Kai had become something completely induced by power from the Other Side—or, more restlessly known as the 'Dark Side,' if they were referring to Jay's incessant Code-of-Jay boy slang that only he seemed to be able to speak. If Kai was strong enough to put images in their brains and force them to witness gruesome mirages like he'd just done now, then there was no telling what he'd be able to do in the future if the ninja continued to sit around like this. _Good never rests, _Sensei Wu had once foretold him in one of his little bedtime stories in the flickering candlelight aboard the _Bounty _original, back when it was acceptable for Lloyd to feel like a little kid. Now, when he felt like that, he felt stupid and unworthy; what spinjitzu master hovered over the past? All he could do now was move forward and pray to all heavenly entities that he could somehow make it through all these awful things that Kai had done.

Jay rubbed his eyes. "I guess we'd better get moving," he mumbled tiredly.

"I'll get the coffee grinder started," muttered Cole as he found his footing. He shuffled from the room, but not before landing an affectionate hand on Lloyd's head, giving his hair a brotherly ruffle. _I think Cole's the best at being our bonds now, _he thought as he watched the earth ninja go. Since Cole had no relatives to build off of anymore, he'd taken to the gang of ninjas to be his family, and Lloyd had always had a sense that it was Cole who loved everyone the most, aside from Zane. A brief smile played on his lips. It was just something little about the band of ninja that made you smile because you could, these tiny, stupid things you sometimes thought. He saw that Jay was thinking it, too, for his mouth had turned up a little at the corner. There was a brief connection there that Lloyd savored.

But then he sighed. No more lollygagging.

He had work to do.


	9. Chapter 8: THE DEEPEST OF THE DEAD

**I WOULD'VE updated yesterday, but I caught one of those dreadful things called a cold. :( However, I managed to forge through it today and write a chapter about KAI! :D YAY! (and a little end surprise for you guys. Teehee:) **

**This is a pretty awesome chapter. I must say. 10 Pages of Kai and a secret character you'll have to read to figure out who it is. EEK! SO excited for you to read, so I'll shut up so you can. And also, so I can straighten my hair before bed. (My curls are all fluffy and un-curly nasty. They MUST be tamed!) **

**ENJOY MY CHAPTER ABOUT KAI AND HIS JOURNAL! :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_8. Deepest of the Dead_

_AUTUMN, 1__st__ Month, 2__nd__ day_

_Close to Midnight_

_Autumn is drawing near. I can sense it. It's like a bitter taste on the very tip of my tongue. It tastes almost as bad as the purple jelly Pythor insisted he cook earlier on tonight—it went right through me, literally. Eloquim said it's normal for that to happen. After all, I don't really have a body anymore, which is kind of hard for me to get used to. I'm still working to get the hang of becoming corporeal on command. I fell right through the chair earlier because I still have no sense of what anything feels like anymore._

_Ha, ha. "Sense." _

_Speaking of senses, I've lost and gained more of the majority of them to that wicked curse. I can hardly taste anything, except for things that HAVE no taste, if that makes sense. For instance, the wind—wind has no taste, correct? Well, I can taste it. I know just what time of day it is, what the weather's like, the dew point average, the season. I get all of that from just opening my mouth and letting the new air touch my tongue. Wickedly awesome, right? Kind of. Not really. I can't tell yet. All of this is still a little…weird. _

_Anyway…then there's sight. _

_I can see _everything. _I'm not lying. Not joking, kidding, goofing off—I can literally see it all. The condensation drizzling down the side of your glass? I know just where it is. I can see every corner, every curve, even the little droplets in the path it's taking. It's almost as though I'm zooming into the frame without even zooming in. When I look into the shadows, I can see perfectly without having to give my eyes time to adjust. I can see the individual scales on Pythor's purple face perfectly. I can see the flecks of blue in his green irises. And in Eloquim's, I can see it so perfectly, it's almost as though I'm looking right into his soul or something. It's…cool. Somehow._

_My hearing has improved, too. I can hear a conversation from a mile away. Not only that, but I can hear the flaps of a butterfly's wings, too. I can hear every single lisp, stutter, and every other speech defect as though it's being written on a page for me to read. When people talk, I know just the way their jaw moves. I can hear heartbeats, practically inaudible sighs, people blinking, the rubbing of your skin against your wrist. All these things that before had been quiet are now as loud as car horns to me. _

_My sense of smell has dulled, though. The only thing I'm really good at smelling out is blood. But accompanied by my great hearing and sight, if I were ever snuck up on, I would know exactly where you are without having to smell you. If you're wounded a mile away, I'm going to hear you moaning, or see you crumpled in the sand. It's not that hard to cover up for one weakness with plenty of strengths. _

_Ah, and finally, touch. I cannot feel anymore, for I have no form to feel with. The ground beneath my feet, I hardly notice it. That's why corporeality is so hard for me to master. Without knowing it's there, how am I supposed to find my footing?_

_No pat on the back—I don't feel you touch me, I _hear _you or I _see _you. It's kind of really…tragic, if it's proper for me to say that. Emotions are gone. I'm empty. Nothing's inside of me. No guts. No blood. No heartbeat. What am I, then? What am I made of?_

_Eloquim, that's what._

_Eloquim is not only the leader of the Shadow Dancers, but the power in which they (and me, I suppose) draw their/my energy from. I think it comes from Elo's staff. (Short for Eloquim the Leader…His name is so hard to write out these days, especially when crammed in this space like I am. It's dreadfully squished in Samokai's stupid vehicle.) That staff…I'm trying to figure out what it's for, and where I've seen it before. Whenever I'm around it, I get this sense that I've seen it before somewhere, but I just can't quite remember WHERE, and it's pissing me off. But without the Eloquim, Elo says that none of the Shadow Dancers would be able to function, and neither would I. If the power source were to suddenly cease to work, he says, then it would result in all of us spontaneously combusting. _

_Speaking of which else makes them spontaneously combust: The sun. If they step into that light, suddenly, they just randomly detonate. It's freaky. I've already seen it happen to one guy, whom was thrown out there on purpose by Elo, because he…hm. I forget. He did something that tipped the wrong end of the ship. Elo says I'm the only one who can walk in the sunlight, mainly because I'm not a Shadow Dancer, I'm just the Hell God's son's "soul." AKA, The King of the Underworld. AKA, my father, Elathan. _

_Elo won't talk to about Elathan to me, but I've wracked a little out of Pythor. (I think it's a little strange how my old enemies who I THOUGHT were dead are suddenly coming out of nowhere again.) From what he's told me, I'm practically a spitting image of him; he used to act the same way I do, though how Pythor's ever met my father, I'd never be able to guess. Continuing: He's told me a little about the fights my father has won. Battles, I mean. He's fought pretty much _everyone, _even Pythor himself! Garmadon, too. Samokai used to be his left-hand man (since Elo used to be his right one) until he was chucked up here by the Shadow Dancer Fan Club. Still, everyone's being a little vague. I'm going to demand a big fat answer one of these days, but I've been pretty busy ruining the lives of the Ninja lately. Pythor says that my father looks a lot like me, but I've heard that one before. Everyone used to say I looked like the Blacksmith—Nya's father—but I guess now that was just a load of dragon crap. It just makes me wonder how many other people knew that I'd been adopted. It also makes me wonder why Sensei Wu never told me about my true heritage. _

_That's another perk about my emotionless new self. I don't feel regret anymore. I don't mourn that silly old man. In fact, calling him an old onion isn't even something I can shame over anymore, when even thinking of Sensei incorrectly caused me grief back then. It also means that destroying the ninjas' lives isn't hard either. _

_Killing Zane had nothing on me._

_It was pure adrenaline rush. Though I really can't feel that anymore, the "feeling" is familiar. The sensation, I mean. It actually tickled my insides to know that I'd won, for once. Just me. Without the help of anyone else, I'd won. Me and that stupid Taser, but mostly me. ME! Kai, the former ninja of fire, the Prince of Darkness, the guy who was too impulsive for his own good, the guy everyone called "weak" because of my impatience. Look at where that bloody got them, eh? Mourning over a stupid robot. Pathetic! I completely _DEMOLISHED _that excuse of a hunk of metal. They weren't expecting it. Hell, _I _wasn't expecting it. But it was PERFECT! It's sure they won't follow us now…at least, I've bought us some time. _

_And that new mind-control power Elo showed me before we arrived on-spot in the desert, just before I zapped Zane to shreds—(!)—the one I used on the ninja aboard the Bounty. Which I have no clue where it came from. Didn't it crash in the middle of the desert? I should know. Elo's bragged all about it to me, how he controlled the storm to attack the boat. Brilliant, might I say. And Pythor! Get this, he really _was _the one Zane saw in the doorway! But he didn't show up on Zane's camera because Pythor is dead, like me, and ghosts don't show up on camera unless they want to. It's actually really smart. They've put their minds to the test [no thanks to Samokai, the brainless bonehead] and have proven they're worthy of my army. (Yeah, I'll get to that in a second, but I'm not done bragging yet.) Now, where was I? Oh yeah, my mind-control. _

_My Transition isn't complete yet. It's ticking me off, but it's going to come through eventually. Transition, you're wondering? What's a "Transition"? _

_My Transition is me becoming the _true_ Prince of Darkness. It'll allow me, as the Deepest of the Dead, to get my Dark Powers and take a step up in the right direction, which would be taking my rightful place on the Throne of Power. (the second closest throne next to Elathan's.) Once I take it, my father won't have complete rule over the Underworld, and I'll have complete reign over the Shadow Kingdom, where the remainder of Shadow Dancers lie, plus more insufferable creatures I could command to do my evil bidding. It's sort of like unlocking my True Potential, but this, oh, man, this is _better!_ To complete the Transition, I need to complete a series of tasks that are kind of like an Evil To-Do List. They're a little tedious, but they'll do, if it means I get what I want…_

_First, well, Elo hasn't quite explained much of it, but from what I understand is that I need one precious thing from each of my parents that's been left in their wake on earth and something of mine I once loved dearly. Where I'm going to get the rest, I'm not sure, but I've only got one of those three things: My mother's wedding ring. I jacked it from the ninja earlier tonight. Apparently—which I don't really remember doing, but that's just me—it had come from one of my fan mail letters I'd never opened. It must've been from my mother. Who else could've had it? It isn't as though I can ever find out. My box of fan mail was destroyed during the crash of the Bounty. Which, I need to figure out, came out of nowhere surreptitiously remade. Did one of those stupid robots rebuild it from scratch or from the remaining pieces of the old one?_

_I'm considering destroying it. But then again, I need a stable place to torture the ninja in…_

_I also need to make a "Murder of One." This was a little confusing at first, since I've already killed two people (or one, if you don't count robots.) But Pythor graciously explained it to me. I have to kill one person that has derived from either of these two groups: __**A)**__ The Ninja. As if that weren't obvious enough. But Pythor said, reading from an Ancient Scroll, that this ninja has to be a ninja in which has a "heart of misleading beats, a determination communing from a common fear, and an iron fist." That's a little confusing of a riddle. I've been stressing over it for hours. It would be obvious that an 'iron fist' would be Cole, because when he punches you, it leaves a bruise that lasts a year, I swear. First-hand experience. But at the same time, he isn't fearful, which would be Jay. And then, a "heart of misleading beats"—well, what in the hell does that mean? Lloyd is the only ninja left, and I don't think he's got an iron fist or a determination from fear. Pythor says I can't have help from ANYONE. I have to figure them out on my own, or the Transition becomes invalid. _

_Very, very tricky._

_Option __**B) **__The Family of a Ninja. See, all this revolves around those cretins because it's a test, you see, that much I've figured out. It's a test to see if I really can do this. And I will. Nothing will hold me back from slaughtering them all—which will be more fun when I have my powers. The family member in which I am able to kill must have "a stone cold fury, yet a laughter of chattering ways; a strong voice in the art of technology, but a chill in the coldest of days." This, too, is really dumb. "Stone cold fury"—Who could that be? "Laughter of chattering ways"—the word 'chatter' makes me think of Jay's parents. But then again, so does "a strong voice in the art of technology." But that also makes me think of Julien, Zane's "father". Then… "a chill in the coldest of days." Who could that be?_

_Either way, someone the Ninja love is going to die at my hands. _

_And Hell hath no Regret, dear friend. Hell hath no freaking regret. _

_Once I have killed one of them, I'm supposed to drink their blood, then also dip my three artifacts I've gotten from my mother, my father, and myself in it, by then pulling these objects to my form and harnessing the powers hidden in these things. That energy will give me the power to then complete my third task, which is probably the one I am most excited to do: _

_My third and final task is to, once completing these actions, retrieve the all-powerful Shadow Key from the tomb beneath the Lost City of Oroboros. _

_By the time we reach Oroboros, I will already have completed the first two conditions to harnessing my powers. Elo and Pythor have both told me that I'm the only one who can hold the Shadow Key in my possession and use it to unlock the Great Gateway. It's rather exciting. This way, once the Gate is opened, I'll be able to release every hellish demon that has ever existed onto this earth. Including my parents. Together, we'll all rule these creatures. And none of them will reject me as have those stupid ninja. Who I will make _pay _for what they have cruelly done to me. _

_I've heard Elo and Pythor muttering, though, as I am not in the room when they do: They're saying something about a Great Battle. This doesn't worry me, for I cannot worry, but at the same time, I've been told little about this, too. The Great Battle, as I assume, is me versus the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master. Or, more better known as, Lloyd Garmadon. I've heard them muttering that there is not just I who can hold it, but Lloyd, too, and that's why we need to find it first. _

_From what I understand…Lloyd and I will head off in an all-out, supernaturally powered battle that will lead to the destruction of one and the victory of another. Pythor has hissed a little to me about it. He's said a lot about the fact that we _cannot _lose, because if we lose, then I will die, and so will the Shadow Dancers when my destruction's powerful light erupts across the land, combined with Lloyd's Spinjitzu Master powers. It'll completely take away every shadow that falls across the land, kill every last evil-driven creature—even the last of the Devourer's acid-violated creations. I cannot let that happen. It's already been decided; I will be the one to kill Lloyd Garmadon._

_The old me would've stressed and fretted over this for days, hours, weeks, months. But the new me…well, I feel nothing but determination to win this fateful battle. It's nothing on me to slaughter someone anymore. I've done it already, twice, and it feels pleasant. I liked it, actually. It's not really that big of a deal, anyway. I don't see why murderers get sent away so quickly after slicing someone to shreds—_

"YOU THERE!"

Kai jumped, startled, his pen digging into the deep ivory paper of the leather-bound journal. He'd been so consumed by his thoughts he hadn't paid attention to the surviving world around him; now, that huge, red ink-blot in the middle of his writing drew his eye close like a gnat to a flame. Angry, he glared up at the armor-clad skeleton with his green eyes in a literal swirling vortex. In the seat across from his, placed comfortably along the side of the wide vehicle, Pythor gave him an amused smile. His pink tongue flickered between his teeth.

Kruncha wasn't even _talking _to him. Kai gave an angry hiss and turned back to his foiled journal to run his thumb across the tortured word, dragging the ink further down the page. He scowled.

"Yes, _you, _girl!" snapped Kruncha, putting his bare knuckles on his pelvis. He stared to a particular spot located in the very back of the vehicle, now groaning up a large sand-dune, where there were tied the prisoners Samokai's army had captured. "Quit your _whining _and shut up! Or Samokai will have your head on his mantle!"

The girl writhed. With her hands pinned behind her back, she sat in the clump of the other few prisoners Samokai had taken, her short, wild brown hair a mess. She strained against the heavy rope and the dish towel wrapped around her mouth. She was a frail little thing, quite underfed, if Kai had any opinion of it, and quite ugly, too. She was no beauty. If anything, she looked like a boy, but Kai wasn't going to waste his breath telling her what he was sure she'd been told all her life.

"I said, _quit making that noise!" _Kruncha yelled, and slowly, the girl fell into an eerie silence, but she continued an eye-roll-worthy glare in his direction. "Yeesh," Kruncha growled. "Stupid girl."

"Are you quite sure of that?" asked Pythor, his voice dripping his old accent. He rubbed his hands together while grinning like the devil. "It looks to me as though it may be a _he." _

Kruncha, Nuckal, and a couple of lingering Shadow Dancers laughed at the misfortune of the ugly child. However, Kai didn't find it amusing; he stared at the odd lot of prisoners Samokai had seen fit. Aside from the wailing girl, there was a small, blonde-headed child, a quiet little thing huddled in the very corner of the vehicle, her head down by her knees. She was dressed in rags, clothing no better than the potato sacks Nya used to buy from the market in the early months of summer, with her hair matted to her head, and dirty tears scribbling down her cheeks. Then there were a couple of boys, but neither of them looked promising; one was a skinny little thing, the other a broad, muscular man, yet they shared the same exact skin tone and nose formations, despite their unalike appearances. It was a peculiar bunch that led him to wonder what significance they held to Samokai. They looked nothing like the warrior type he would've figured the old skeleton would've fancied in his samurai army.

Then, there was Misako, whom he'd daringly dispatched Kruncha and Nuckal to steal before he arrived to distract the ninja by killing Zane. She wasn't tied, but she knew better than to rebel against him. Quiet, the elder woman wrapped her arms around her knees, patting the ugly girl on the back with promises of a better future. She hadn't spoken a word to Kai since she'd seen his face at the hilt of the threatening dagger he'd poised to her throat, something he hadn't taken too personally; in fact, he could've cared less if she thought making small conversation was fine or not. She would succumb to his commands, no later than he asked her to. She'd decode that map for him whether she wanted to or not. He'd threaten Lloyd's life with it if he had to. And if he'd learned anything about Misako, it was that nothing mattered more to her than her own son. It would only mean the fact that he'd never have to waste time facing Lloyd, then. He'd have no problem tearing out his throat like he'd commanded Cole to try to do, in which he'd ceased at the very last second. He wanted Lloyd around for a little longer to observe the rather _pleasant _surprises Kai had in for him.

Finally, there was the little boy and the tween girl he'd plucked from the ship when everyone was gathered around Zane's death-table. Judging by the names etched into their skin at the very bases of their backs, accompanied by their expiration dates, the little boy, who looked to be ten, seemed to be named "Angus T. Justices" and the girl, who appeared to be twelve, was "Avery M. Rosewood." They, like Zane, were robots. Droids. Whatever it was they were referred to without the skills of being a "nindroid" like Zane had been.

And ah, the ninja, once they realized whom had replaced these two aboard the _Bounty…_Well, it would be rather amusing to capture their surprised faces with his own cameras. These two Replacements would carry out his final task, the task that would finally _end _Zane the Nindroid once and for all, and he'd never have to see that blank face willingly _ever_ again.

From above, Samokai's voice rang loud and clear. "A couple of minutes, my delicious crew! We'll arrive at the _Maolo _museum shortly. Just hang tight!"

Kai turned his gaze to Misako, giving her a dark, threatening grin as she met his eyes with an icy glare. "And there, Mrs. Garmadon," he said, slapping closed the journal, a condemnation which forced it to disappear into the air, "is where you'll begin decoding my map!"

"I'll decode _nothing _for you," she spat.

"_Ah ah ah!" _Kai _tsk_ed, wagging a gloved finger at her. "Remember what's at stake, Misako. It's either that map or your son's head will be sitting in my trophy case for the rest of your hell-damned life."

**? ? ?**

WHERE I AM, IT IS COLD.

Frighteningly cold, and dark. I can't feel any part of my body. I do have a body, right? I can hear the rhythmic pounding of a loud sound in the distance, but it's hard to recognize any kind of noise at this point in time. It's my only connection to the outside world. It's my only reality, the only thing that keeps me thinking there _is _life beyond this darkness. It's unusual, and fearful, and I do not understand why I am pretentiously locked in this place. I hope this noise I hear isn't a figment of my fictitious imagination, something I have subconsciously made up in order to trick myself to believing that this _is _a true place. Maybe this is what death actually feels like, a lone, cold hell in which I sit/lie/stand/whatever I am doing in for the rest of my life/existence/whatever it is I am living.

I have been here for too long. That is obvious. It has been since my Reckoning three-thousand, four hundred and sixty-nine days. I have counted them all because I have nothing to do; in order to calculate the beginning and end of each day, I count the seconds leading towards a minute, then a minute leading toward an hour, then the hour leading towards the rest of the day which acquires twenty-four hours in one sitting. It's hard numbers, but this is my pastime. I have nothing else to do but wait for him to come get me.

He did promise he'd come. It was long, long ago. I remember his face quite well. It is easy to picture in the darkness of my solemn captivity, but I know well the promise he has given to me. A promise cannot be broken! Isn't that the golden rule?

Or…was that "treat others how you wish to be treated"? I have not practiced such rules since my Reckoning. It seems that what one does not repeat in one's mind, one can never recall when needed.

All I have thought is numbers.

Lonely, repeating numbers…

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…_

I wonder, vaguely, how my baby brother is doing. Has he been Reborn, as the white man promised? Has he been fixed? I remember my sacrifice. I remember Mother and Father when they cried over my baby brother's dying body, the sickness taking us by surprise in the dead of the night, cocooning him in its sickly green, tangled mists. I remembered saying to them, "_I will sacrifice my organs for his, if you'd just fix him, somehow." _Looking to the pale white man with the deep brown hair and rounded glasses, begging him to fix my baby brother, who'd since become a young man, poise at the age of seventeen. He wasn't old enough to die yet. He hadn't lived yet. But I, I had seen enough. Quite the troublemaker I was. Always pushing Mother and Father with late curfews, threats of finding a young woman willing enough to bear my child, staying late till the crack of dawn before considering returning home. I'd done enough travesties to the world, yet my baby brother had only begun to see the way it worked. It would've been wrong of me to pass up such an opportunity.

I remember the white man shaking his head. "I doubt that's such a great idea, Rikku," he'd breathed softly, pushing his dark brown hair from his face. "I mean, your brother…I think I have another way," he'd whispered to me. "But with your parents' permission, it _will _require removing his organs entirely…just…not replacing them with yours."

His words are like clocks chiming in my head. It's annoying to hear again, but conversations of the past are destroying my brain now.

Mother's tender voice breaks through the glass. "How can you save him?"

"I'm a master at clockwork," admitted the white man. "You see, I could make your son _new _again!"

Anything, they'd begged. Anything to save their son.

They'd taken my baby brother then, removing him from his deathbed, the white man and his daughter, the pretty auburn haired girl dressed in a simple, worn-out dress. My mother and father had waved from the front porch with tears on their faces as they watched the carriage carrying my brother away from them disappear into a small mouse in the distance. My mother watched even after it had long gone. The house had been silent, quiet, and lacking of the life that my baby brother had once given him.

Weeks later it was the tragedy we'd learned that what epidemic had sought out my brother's organs had eaten alive the white man's daughter, too. I can't quite remember her name, but I remembered vomiting once I'd learned of the horrors the flesh-eating disease and what it had consumed of the pretty girl. I attended her funeral, that much I know. I watched her casket lower to the ground with a sad, disgusted feeling in the pit of my stomach. The white man had her name carved into the top of her well-polished mahogany casket. Now that I think of it, the gleaming golden plaque had read "Caroline B. Julien." I'd always wanted to know what the "B" stood for, but I never quite was told.

Didn't have the time.

After Caroline's burial, my parents demanded my brother be brought back home, no matter what mid-process the white man may be pausing from or the condition of his sickness. While these custodial battles continued between us, as the white man claimed he was practically finished with my brother, I had grown weak, frail. It was not too long before this sickness caught to me, too. But I hadn't been able to find myself the heart to tell my parents that I had been dying the whole time they turned their backs to fight for my brother rather than fight for me. I had turned to the only person I'd known of then: the white man and his brother-stealing clockworks.

Arriving at his home, I remember that I'd been frightened, but only a little, for my pride left me with not much of a choice. I'd escaped the house quickly without the bat of an eyelash from either of my biological parents, or even the stray cat Suzie who slept beneath our front porch. I'd stolen my father's finest horse, Buela, to ride. Then, hooking her up to the stable aside the white man's fine brown stallion, I'd marched to his door. The front porch, I presume, was full of peculiar wind-chime trinkets that looked self-made. Ratty old things, I remember thinking, but not to the extent it could've fallen further from.

The doorbell had been loud, long, and equipped with a catchy tune. I'd hummed it while I waited for the white man to open the door. But instead of finding myself face-to-face with the man in his mid-thirties as the white door opened, I found myself staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes, the eyes of someone I'd once known, and once loved, indeed.

"Brother!" I'd cried, reaching for him, only to realize that the blank stare in his eyes was nothing of remembering me.

"May I help you?" He'd asked monotonically. Falsely.

Robotically.

"It's…me, Rikku," I'd gasped. My brother had shaken his head.

"I am sorry. I do not recall a 'Rikku.'"

I'd demanded of the white man as he stomped to the front door what he'd done with my brother. Why he'd stolen him from me. Then, as I demanded to know what cure he'd possessed in order to save this person, I'd collapsed, as my own fever had risen above normal temperatures.

My memories are scattered from that point, but I remember a chill to the air, a very cold surface beneath my back as I stared up at the ceiling and the white man worked his way through my stomach, humming that doorbell tune as he went. He'd make conversation with me, though he knew I could not respond. I saw so many faces pass over me throughout my slight slivers of sight I could manage to experience. I saw the white man more than anyone. I saw my brother's blank face, too. I saw the face of a young boy, no more than ten, shadowed by a farmer's cap as he stared with naturally narrowed eyes down on me, his curly mop of hair flattened beneath the hat. I think someone said his name was 'Gus.'

Then one day, though it breached the impossible, I saw Caroline. Quite a beautiful creature she was made to be. Older than I'd last seen. It didn't make sense to me, but it didn't have to. Gorgeous brown eyes, reddish curls cascading down her shoulders. She'd take sharp things and work with them into my chest, but I could never take my eyes away from her face until, finally, I understood my random intervals of black forgetfulness: Someone turned me off every night.

Then one day, the switch was flipped on. And this time, it stayed. Though I was not allowed, after the Reckoning, to be outside of my box, the white man forgot to turn off my switch, forcing me to look into this black, black Evergloom before me. The one that made me count numbers all the time for lack of better sport.

I hear voices, causing me to fatally pause my counting. I listen, hard. Harder, and harder still until I make out words. I can hear her pretty voice. Familiar. She still sounds like the angel she did all those three-thousand, four hundred and sixty-nine days ago.

"…_think we should unlock the box," _says Caroline quietly. I strain over her voice. She sounds hurt.

"Why?" asks an old, wrinkled voice. "Daughter, you know if we let him out…It will be too painful."

"It must be too painful to be in there! Father, please. Let him see what has become. He can _help _us. He can help Lloyd. _They _can help Lloyd. We're short in numbers; we can stop Kai if we use our little secret weapons. _Please, _father." There is a pause. "For Zane."

At the sound of my brother's name, I itch to be released.

I frown into the darkness. At least, I believe I have. My face contorts into an odd shape that I do not recognize. There is the heavy encounter of a sigh, the shifting of feet. I wait, a still form. Then, there is footsteps that are slowly approaching my cavernous darkness.

I wait. There is the soft clicking overthrowing the rhythmic pounding sound I have been listening to all these frightful years in total darkness.

Then, the door opens, and I am consumed in light.

**And now you guys have officially met Rikku, Zane's brother from **_**life! **_***gasp* WHAT? You say, ZANE HAD A LIFE?! **

**I SAY: WHY YES, YES HE DID! XP**

**We also learned today that Caroline did, too, before she died of whatever had killed Zane. (the first time.) Which *cough cough* is a reference to the final chapter before the epilogue of SHADOW DANCER, when Julien called her "Caroline the Second" and foreshadowed of a reason that this Caroline was NOT the first? Yeah? Y'all catchin' my drift here? :D**

**Please review, and go have an ****AWESOME ****NIGHT/DAY/EVENING/WINTER/SUMMER/SPRING/FALL guys! :D (and if you come across a nindroid, give him/her a hug for me? :D)**


	10. Chapter 9: DESTINY UNLEASHED

**This chapter managed to find itself arriving a little late due to taking Finals in school and studying like CRAZY (blech)—and a little shorter than my usual chapters (10 pages). Although I'm sure that's fine with you guys. :D This chapter is aaalllll about Lloyd—whom I am proud enough to say is my favorite little Spinjitzu Master :D—and I'm sorry if it gets a little tedious at times, sometimes explaining things you already know, but you have to keep in mind that what **_**you **_**might know, Lloyd is just figuring out. :D **

**You also get to catch a glimpse of "Avery," who we previously learned from Kai is actually kidnapped and being shipped to **_**Maolo **_**Town, instead replaced by an evil villain in disguise. See if you can guess which of our evil little friends has taken the place of Avery? (Who is horridly misunder-described. I kind of slacked on giving her a definite character here. I did that with Angus too. But I think I'm going to build more off Angus next.) **

**Okay. As a continuation past our previous discoveries that Kai A) has Misako, B) has prisoners, and C) has a diary, *snicker snicker* here's a chapter about Lloyd Garmadon, the ULTIMATE SPINJITZU MASTER! :D Enjoy!**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_9. Destiny Unleashed_

"SO, RUN THIS BY ME AGAIN," Cole emerged from the steeple of the kitchen, holding a tray of fine, glass mugs, all printed with landscapes across their fronts. In each cup, there was another round of steaming hot coffee, served as it was ordered from the deep technologies of Caroline's cappucino machine. It was two hours past midnight aboard the Bounty 2, extending their already stressful day past its original air date. Lloyd himself had torn through three mugs of coffee to fight off the impending exhaustion hanging over him. It had only been one day—just one!—and yet it seemed like there was everything happening all at once. Battles, discoveries, mirages, kidnappings, DEATH. It wasn't part of the average teenager's day. Right about now, he should've been curled beneath the ivory sheets ofthe bottom bunk in the bunk room, sleeping softly beneath Jay as he and the others tried to ignore the fact that the room was supposed to hold a max capacity of five but only housed three.

And yet, here he was, trying to keep his eyes open as he, Cole, Jay, Caroline, Nya, and Angus tried to once again understand the mythical enchantments of prophecies foretold by parchment paper and quill pens.

"Kai's a lunatic," Jay began the story with a dull, exhausted tone, quietly taking a cup from Cole's serving platter without meeting his eyes. He took a sip of his mug. It seemed like the only person the caffeine worked on was Nya, who took her own writing utensil of choice and etched it across a piece of fly leaf paper. Her hand flew quicker than any hand Lloyd could've possessed when writing down crap they'd sorted through for hours at two in the morning.

"Right. Thanks." Cole said without enthusiasm, taking his seat beside Lloyd. He set the tray onto the middle of the dining room table, where Lloyd grabbed another cup, downing a swallow hastily.

Caroline, not needing of the coffee, shook her head at the mug Lloyd pushed towards her hesitantly. He didn't know why, but he felt edgy around her, a sense that he wasn't quite able to understand. At least, not at two in the morning. "Well, it seems that Kai, other than being a lunatic, has possessed his mother's ring that she'd sent him years ago. From what we know of, it's to complete some kind of Transition."

"That term," Angus muttered from across the table, a small, confident voice in the dim candlelight, "is used to indicate a specific time frame in which one shifts forms and becomes something new, more or less improved, entirely."

At his wordy description, Jay eyeballed him, preferring the solitude of standing rather than sitting at either open space beside Nya or Cole. Lloyd wasn't an expert at relationships and what occurred with them, but he was sure of he'd found himself in a similar position, he wouldn't sit, either. "Whered you pull that one from?" He asked.

Angus lifted his dim greenish grey eyes from his hands, curled around each other atop the table, to peer at him through the lenses of his circular glasses. "Must you forget that I do have an inner vocabulary system?"

Jay frowned into his cup. "A...what?"

"He means a dictionary," Lloyd offered, feeling a sense of deja vu when trying to decode Zane's old, heavily-worded sentences. After experiencing these things to many times, you learned to get used to the cold, hard facts provided.

Almost imperceptibly, Jay nodded. "You could've just said so."

"So with that definition," Cole continued as though Jay had never spoken, rubbing his hands along the smooth, defined edge of the wooden table. "It would imply that Kai is changing."

Caroline ceased her mild pacing behind Lloyd. Almost absentmindedly, she brushed her hands along his shoulders, kneading out the knots. It was a creepy gesture, considering what evidence proved that he didn't even know her, but he had to admit it did help. "Whatever his transition is, and however so he's changing, it must mean that, since the origin of his true bloodline has been revealed, it isn't going to end well."

Lloyd frowned. All secrets of the days the ninja had spent parted had been revealed, closing the gaps between informations with a thick, cement seal. Yet despite the odds, there were still questions he wanted answered, reasonings that didn't make sense. He tapped his fingers in a familiar tune against the glass of his cup, yet without the music to assist it, listeners wouldnt be able to name the tune directly. He sighed. The last time he'd ever hummed the tune, they'd been watching admittedly embarassing pictures flash upon a large flat screen. Admittedly embarassing images—that had all been retrieved by Zane.

He shivered when Caroline took her hands away.

"I sense the tension in here," she murmured randomly, gazing out th missing wall towards the deep, purple horizon, split in half by the mast of the Bounty 2. "It's unpleasant for one to maintain holding. It rolls from each of you." She rubbed her hands over her bunny-clad thighs. "Perhaps I shall burn sage to ease the atmosphere."

Just as Caroline slipped out the large, wall-less door, Avery, the less-than-subtle other girl that Lloyd had met aboard Julien's boat, who also seemed to be out of sight and from the mind, waltzed in with a stack of four rather large, rather thick leather-bound books in her arms. Cole stood to offer assistance as she peered around her lengthy stack, but Jay had already managed to clear the room in two seconds, abandoning his coffee cup to the corner of the table to hold out his hands. Avery shifted the books to him, her long, yellow hair a large curl cascading down her back. She hadn't changed into pajamas like Caroline had, instead leaving herself in very small khaki shorts and a violently blue tank top. She had a long, elegant oval face. Her skin was a creamy tan, clashing with her bright hazel eyes. With a long, straight nose, hers looked so much more different than Caroline's small, perfectly round one. It was amazing to Lloyd how Julien was able to create creatures so similar in manufacturing, but so different in appearance.

As a matter of fact, Lloyd hadn't been able to catch much sight of the other crew; Julien had told him there was a total of sixteen droids aboard the ship, but he said they usually weren't active in "public." Lloyd just assumed that was robot-code for shy.

But Avery was anything BUT shy. From what little he'd experienced of her, she had a mouth to her that spoke exactly what ran through her, er, mind. Though these experiences hadn't been revealed to the...audience, should he say, there was a lot to Avery too that seemed less than robotic.

Like the way she pushed her hands to her hips and let Jay carry the load, for instance. She strutted into the room, a shockwave of gold and deep, cerulean blue, the mask of red eyeshadow rimming her eyes completely, turning her to a menacingly daring robot. As Jay struggled beneath the weight of literature, Avery pulled his cup from the corner of the table and literally downed it in one swallow. She set the empty cup on the silver tray in the middle of the table and grabbed one of the extras. Jay gaped, setting the books with a loud thump to the wood. Sympathetically and even a little surprisedly, Lloyd watched her out the corner of his eye, slowly pushing a full cup to Jay.

Avery belched.

Jay looked traumatized.

After the unladylike gesture, she wiped her hand over the back of her mouth, saying, "Those are texts of ancient Shadow Dancer history. Not only have that, but the Underworld's king, too." Lloyd thought he'd caught the glimpse of a faint lisp, though the speech impediment could've easily been misheard among his drowsy exhaustion. He took another gulp of his coffee with a shudder.

Continuing to gape, Jay was no help, his jaw dropped inevitably at the burst of manner lacking from the droid. Instead, Nya mothered the next question, running her fingers absentmindedly over the torn, brown leather spines. There were no titles to them, but instead images, certain runes etched into the worn material. Lloyd reached forward to pluck the top fat book from the pyramid. It could've weighed more than Nya, it was so heavy! He set it to its own pile and lifted the front cover. Immediately he was overcome with a thick, old-book scent he remembered from being a kid. It was a familiar, melancholy smell to his heart: it smelled like Misako.

The front page was painted an image so peculiar it sent shivers crawling up his spine. Pressed to the ivory skinned paper was the drawing of an eye, though not a typical, detailed eye; it was a vague marking, grasping only the outline of one, ending in both sides a swirl upwards to convey a whirligig of red ink from a feather pen. In the middle of the eye was, instead of a large iris, a small, circular green dot. It was small, taking up only an inch in the center of the page, but it was enough to send Lloyd reeling. The single green, small iris glared up at him as he stumbled backwards, overcome with a sense of dizziness, but not from his lack of sleep. No, this dizziness came from somewhere, somewhere deep within himself, an awakening of the past, a prophecy of the future. Lloyd gave a small, feeble cry of surprise. Jay, nearest him, took a hesitant step forward, but he could hardly see the ninja of lightning through the fog of his unfocused eyes.

"Lloyd? What's wrong?" Jay asked, reaching forward, his bare hands resting against Lloyd's long-sleeved clad arms. The peculiar premonition overcoming him was hardly bearable against Lloyd's weakening force. Jay's honest face soon began to fade into the distance until its details became blurred, undefined shapes and colors amongst the world; then, a moment later, it wasn't Jay he saw, but rather a visual knowledge inside of itself…

**THE ULTIMATE SPINJITZU MASTER**

_I groaned into the darkness, rubbing the tender spot against my forehead, a pulsing beneath my skin, penetrating my veins with its awful sting. It's kind of naturally difficult for me to understand even what's going on beneath that same skin, beneath the muscle, the tissue, the vein, the blood, other than a certain understanding to the becoming of what is my reality. Suddenly, it was as though I understood everything that had ever been meant for me, my destiny laid before me like the map I'd been firstly given to guide me in the significant direction of the Shadow Key. Suddenly, it's like things are making sense. Suddenly, there is a truth beneath the pale blue eyes and soft, golden hair, beneath the faint ivory skin and green uniform marking my true stature. My identity. Suddenly, it's everything, not just the Final Battle, or my father, or the Devourer, or any of that. It's what lies before me as well as behind me that had taken ahold of me. At the sight of that eye, I realized more than one thing, remembered more than one silenced memory condemned to some chained box aligning a corridor in the recess of my mind. _

_I am the green ninja. I am the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master. I am…Well, I'm _me. _Lloyd Garmadon. I've defeated Overlords and Snake Kings and even twisted doppelgangers of my fellow ninja brothers. I've taken wrong turns into trusting snakes (what kind of dork does that, anyway?) and have failed when forced to call upon the strengthening powers lying beneath my skin that are supposed to guide me through victory, not make me freeze to defeat. I've watched people fall in love right before my very eyes, watched that love suddenly disappear within the flicker of candlelight. I've seen betrayals by the dozen, seen fear, heard fear, been fear. I've smacked the crap out of stone armies. I've outsmarted snakes and skeletons. I've taken a whack to a giant bell. I have lived up to what my name is. _

_Yet, at the same time, some inner sense of right, of truth beneath lies, tells me that I am no more living up to my name than the sun is living up to the meaning of cold. _

_It's an instantaneous realization amongst an understanding that you most likely will never quite be able to grasp the way I have; there are far, far more intelligent things in this world that are beyond a higher quality of understanding. These are things that you don't just _discover, _or _decipher. _These things just happen because, well, they do, and it's the way the kite flies. Do you wonder where the elemental powers come from? Your sciences can't explain that. They can't explain the various ways the evil has time and time again managed to sap a supernaturally inclined powers from an unseen source. You can try and search for an Serve-Evil-Only Power Bank, but I doubt you'll find one. There is no definite answer for them, and though that could be hard for some science junkies to hear, it is the truth. And I know that this power inside of me isn't lying. There are no lies amongst the facts. _

_My journey as the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master isn't over just because the Overlord was defeated. He still lies within us, still crawls amongst the shadows. He is still here somewhere, although I can't see him, and nor can you, for that audacious matter. It's not just that. The Devourer, the Skullkins, the Snakes, the Lords, the _Over_lords, the possessed Ninjas, the Starteeth…None of them have really truly disappeared. Sure, a battle is lost, resulting in their defeat; but to where are they banished once this is their fate? I don't know how I suddenly know this. It's one of those "Just Go With It" concepts that I've heard a lot of people talk about but never quite been able to understand myself. I suddenly know that they're there, whether you can see them or not, lingering in the air your breathe or crunching in the ground of the desolate area you walk on. It would explain Samokai's appearance from his defeat, his retrieval from doom so impenetrable it was seemingly un-returnable from. It would explain Pythor's strong attempt to bounce back. It would explain why the Devourer's blood quaked and tainted living things such as the Black Widow that clambered among the trees of the Wood. It would explain why my father wasn't completely saved from its poison. Poison like that doesn't disappear; that much I understood then. _

_Neither did mine._

_I could see through the eyes of Kai then, kind of getting what he was serving. I saw various things through the green fog writhing at my feet inside the darkness of myself, of my mind, as I worked to understand what I was being showed. There was a miraculous Healing today, in the early hours of the morning, before anyone had even risen: it was the result of Kai's Choice. His decision. His sudden yearning to become accepted by creatures he figured felt as abandoned and exiled as he did when lingering in the folds of the desert._

_Zane was dying. Overheating from the rays of the sun, dreading when it rose to greet him. But there was a gift to Kai for creating the possibility to step over the battle lines to the opposing side. When he first met with the dastardly creatures in the desert, not long after the death of the Bounty Original, they promised him a reward of his greatest desire if he chose to side with them. I guess they kept to their word. No, I don't guess. I _know _they kept to their word. I just miraculously understand these things now. Kai _wanted _us to be safe, normal, and have the life we could've lost if all of us were kicking around sand in that infamous desert. It was what he wanted most. When he Crossed Over, the reward was paid, and as promised, the Shadow Dancers healed the ninja who were wounded in a self-destructive battle; as a result, Zane was provided a protective shield from the sun disallowing him to burn to death in the sand._

_Cole's broken ribs, after being strewn aside to the desert and left for strangers to heal, were mended in the early hours of his sleep, allowing him pliable enough to be controlled by Samokai, even though that last part had never been part of Kai's plan. It sickened me to think of what had happened to them just because I'd left like an idiot. If I hadn't ran, then they wouldn't have had to fleetingly scour the lands looking for me. Just think: Cole could've _died.

_Yet there was something peculiar about him as I looked down on the memory of him lying in the desert. He was lying so neatly. Anyone falling from the height and amount of turmoil he'd been ejected from could not have survived the blow to the hard sand, much less the starvation of lying in the dirt for hours on end. Someone—or something—had wanted him around another day. _

_That wasn't something I was allowed to see. I could feel recoil in the exchanging information between me and the dignities of the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master powers coursing through my veins when I probed the issue._

_Jay was healed of his pain. Momentarily struck hard by Kai's infrangible, sharp words, there was a carefree mending somewhere within him. He'd been able to breathe easier. I could pretty much see it on his face as he slept, forcing the faint smile to his lips while his arm curled protectively around Nya. I winced at the sight of them. What I wanted most was to reach into my subconscious, grab the memories, and warn them of what was coming for their relationship, but that was an impossible dream. _

_Nya, though the lies were restless beneath her, seemed to be able to tolerate her, uh, _pregnancy _better without the weight of stress clinging to her. I didn't want to press any deeper into her thoughts. I was uncomfortable even glimpsing what I could see then; my edge had grown over the course of the day as I learned about what she'd done to Jay. How could I be at peace around her when she'd broken the heart of one of my brothers? _Willingly?

_And…_me. _I'd been dying the moment Caroline rested me to the covers of the bunk room prepared for me to rest in, though no one would be able to tell. Truth was, I had been dreaming about everything I saw now, but seeing deeper into them. This was a retentive foreshadowing from deep inside of my Ultimate Spinjitzu Master calling. Remembering the awful feeling made my spine wrack with fever. Sweat beaded my forehead, my breathing striking heavier. Death loomed over me as though it had never left. I had been on the brink of dying; my end was coming prematurely. There would've been no hope for me had Kai not wished that my sickness, if at all existing, would disappear. _

_In re, it saved my life. I owed him that much._

_As I still examined a dreary world through Kai's vision, I saw the way he saw things: He was hurt. Hurt that Jay, Zane, and Nya had left him to his own in the middle of a crisis to fend for himself, resulting in a deadly need for revenge, something that would strike them across their hearts with iron claws. He had chosen to join the Shadow Dancers not because of a love of evil, but a need for striking back. He wanted to hurt their feelings. I knew as well as anyone that that was something childish, but he'd acted on it anyway. He hadn't anticipated that the Shadow Dancers would murder him and consume his body with the Greater Evil I'd known was coming. _

_Kai was not behind this. No, I'd known, vaguely, from the first second that this couldn't possibly be all Kai. It was partially him, of course. But it also was _them, _too. The Shadow Dancers.  
_

_The Eloquim._

_Kai wanted the Shadow Key to complete his Transition, a term I suddenly understood meant "The becoming of one in a supernatural Metamorphosis that will treat them as one cell dividing to become another, leaving the lesser exaggerated cell for a better improved one." He wanted to gather a true meaning to himself to become someone that we couldn't laugh at anymore, couldn't make fun of. He wanted to prove himself._

_It felt like déjà vu discovering this. After all, I'd been exactly the same once. I had sided with evil because I wanted to show the forsaken world I could strive beyond what they thought I could. Now I just needed to prove to Kai that this wasn't a path he wanted, just as Wu had taught me…_

_But I could already tell that wasn't happening. _

_The Great Battle Cole had spoken of flashed into my mind. The prophecy was read before me as though I were the Shadow Dancer writing it all those thousands of years before my time had become. _

_What I was destined to do was keep the balance intact. In order to do that, I had to successfully complete the one battle that would upset the order of Ninjago far worse than Garmadon, the Overlord, and their fully-prepared Garmatron. What they could've done would've been easily repaired, but what the Great Battle would entail would be impossible to fix. If Kai successfully opened the Gates—which he was planning on doing, unless I stopped him—then there would be no locking it back up, and every single unearthly, demonic creature from the Underworld would suddenly be able to slink up at any given point in time. _

_And the only way one side could be overthrown was if one of the two destined was killed. _

_There was no loophole to this battle, that much was made clear. I had to train myself immensely, constantly, and to a peak physical and mental condition in order to work up the skills needed for this. This was the battle that would decide everything: the fate of the world, the fate of Ninjago, the fate of the people. It didn't make sense to me why Wu didn't ever bring this up—why he didn't tell us of our destiny when the both of us were standing right beneath his long white beard, sleeping in the same bedroom. How could he not have told me? How could he have not told Kai about his heritage? So many things my powers wouldn't show me snuck beneath my fingertips. I could taste the answers yet I was unable to retrieve them. There was something extremely off about it. I just didn't know what, exactly. _

_Something inside also told me that Kai, before he could actually hold the Shadow Key, had to finish his destined, fatal tasks in order to obtain the amount of power required to hold such a weapon. What struck me first was that he had to practically drench himself in the blood of a ninja meeting "certain requirements" or the family member of a ninja that border-lined "specific guidelines." Only then would he be able to access the true power of that Key, although he grew stronger by the second with every condescending lesson taught by the Shadow Dancers to him, little powers that he would most likely use against us—like his mirage earlier today. _

_There were two people that were able to hold that Shadow Key, two people who lived on this half of the earth, anyway, and that was Kai and me. With the dawning new evidence, it seemed to me like we were about to become part of a massive race to find that Shadow Key first. If I could find it and destroy it somehow, or use it against Kai and his army of Shadow Dancers (hopefully without hurting him), then I could stop him from unleashing the Underworld into Ninjago. _

_My quickening dread was almost immediately replaced by a silver determination. For a brief moment, I allowed myself to think there would be no regrets, no faults, no hesitations this time, that I would do what was right in the fate of the world. I suddenly understood why Rufus McAllister had refused to read the map for me the day I collapsed in a heap on his floor from death. I felt bad for hating him at that moment, and promised to apologize to him soon for having such a terrible reaction. And to Darreth, who had stuck to my side so gracefully even when we weren't the best of friends. _

_I smiled in the darkness, pushing myself to my feet against the hard, solid ground beneath me. I suddenly understood these things. It was my destiny to fight the Prince of Darkness, the son of the King of the Shadows, in an all-out battle for Ninjago. Once again. _

_And that Prince of Darkness was my own best friend, my own brother. _

_How would I ever be able to kill him? How could I stand to do it? It had been hard enough aiming my powers at my father, even though hate for him still coursed through me. But Kai…He'd been there for me when I'd needed him, been the friend, been the brother. How could I be the one to aim a death sentence to him?_

_Was he even hesitating the same way I was?_

_I hadn't seen a hesitation when he killed Zane. Did that mean I was just another ninja to kill?_

_I clenched my fists as the memories faded, the realizations dimmed. Kai's face flashed beneath my eyelids, a flicker of pale skin and unnatural green eyes in the dark, and a wicked grin of the devil's son aimed with the solemn attempt to kill…_

—

I felt my body collapsing beneath the weight of my destiny, even as I lingered in the quiet of my mind. I felt like I was detached from my actual physical form, but I could feel the fall come quickly. The floor came as a quick impact, jostling my inner, mentally-focused form on my own two feet in the darkness. I was forced by exhaustion; that much I knew. I laid on the floor, sprawled out, unable to see anything around me, but I could feel a burning sensation on the back of my hand, and it didn't take long for me to suddenly know just what it was.

When I was healed by Kai's wish, I had subconsciously knew it grew in an invisible ink on the back of my hand, but it was such a faint scar that it'd been practically unnoticeable. Now, it burned a bleeding red through my flesh, the color of blood but marked by power rather than fluid. It tattooed itself along my veins, creating the image of a blood red-outlined eye, holding a centering green dot in the very middle, harboring the truth of my destiny. In my inner darkness, I watched it burst a magnificent golden light from its lines, their rays extending far into the sky as I held out the back of my hand. It burned these etchings into my own pores, my skin. It didn't hurt, surprisingly. Instead, I found it inspiring.

The mark on the inside of that book had _meant _for me to discover these things. It was a rune created specifically for that purpose. Whoever had drawn it had clearly wanted the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master to discover it and unlock every secret of his fate. Realize them. It was my destiny unleashed.

As the light died, I gazed at my new mark. It looked just like the one in the book, if not a little wider. I clenched my fists. Whoever had given me this mark—whether it was the first Spinjitzu Master or the author of that leather-back smelly book Avery had grabbed—had wanted me to realize these things for a reason. I was a true believer in things having a purpose behind them as they happened; this began into no mere exception. _This was my destiny._

I couldn't let Ninjago down.

I laid on the ground for a while, examining my Mark with a tentative eye, noticing every fine detail. But even with my mind reeling and steady hands grabbing me from some distant land before me, I was able to successfully find a peaceful rest, my face buried into the crook of my arm, assuming a fetal position as I felt as numb as an unattached arm—but I also felt stronger than I had ever felt before, with the power of my unleashed destiny rising before me, a brightening sun in the horizon, ridding the world of its darkness.

**FINALLY! That nap has been a LONG TIME COMING! For the ninja, so many things have happened in one day. :/ Whoops! A mistake on the author's behalf here. I seem to be overestimating their abilities to abuse caffeine and stay up for long extended periods of time. And plus, Lloyd deserves it. EVERYONE does. So the ninja will carry Little Garmadon to the bunk room and tuck themselves in while trying to ignore the fact that the bunkrooms can house a maximum capacity of five but only are housing three… :(**

**WHICH I think that Cole and Lloyd will probably be the only ones in the bedroom tonight. If I were Jay, I wouldn't want to sleep in the same room as Cole, either. In fact, even though they had a mini-bonding session in the flame of a dastardly mirage, I wouldn't be able to forgive him. But I'm not Jay, so I guess only time can tell. **

**ANSWER ME THIS, MY FELLOW FRIENDS, BEFORE YOU GO!: ****Do you want to read about Kai next, or do you want to know a little more about Lloyd, or **_**perhaps **_**witness a bit of Julien and Caroline releasing the CLOCKWORK ARMY? **

**OH, AND READ THIS, TOO: **** OH YES, you heard me. :] the Clockwork Army is probably seriously self-explanatory, but I'll say it anyway: Lloyd mentioned that there are **_**sixteen **_**droids on the boat but he's only ever met **_**three. **_**Rikku, Zane's brother, was locked in a **_**box. **_

…**.You catching my drift? : ] **

**Please review, I love you all for it, and let me know who you want to hear about next! : ] Go have an awesome day/night/evening/morning!**


	11. Chapter 10: THE SAVIOR & WEAPON

**I AM SORRY. D: YES, I KNOW, PLEASE DON'T HATE ME, but this chapter's from Caroline's POV. But I like writing from Caroline's POV and I hold back on it a lot. DX You guys probably hate reading about Caroline. But I apologize a million times! What was I supposed to do, make Jay randomly appear and tell the story? NO. That wont fly. :D**

**Now, aside from that!**

**Sorry this took so long to upload, but I've been sickly. D: I'm just glad its not Arachnaeus. SO ENJOY! XD**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_10. THE SAVIOR & WEAPON_

Caroline bolted past the closet in which they hid the burning sage in the second she turned the corner, stealing away from the staircase as she clutched the key in her hand, an oddly shaped piece of metal manipulated by a genius like herself to keep even the most peculiar of keys from embracing its lock. Lest Father had crammed the door shut behind her when she'd abandoned him and his thirteen caskets to aid the ninja, she wouldn't need to use it. She slipped down the narrow hall disbanding curious lirkers from accessing it. Located just beyond the bedrooms crammed between where a wall lay, emitting the effect that there was nothing beyond that point, and the last bunk room, Caroline shuffled the tight squeeze, sliding her back against the chilly wall. It was a devious accent she'd added to her _Bounty _to hide what secrets she could manage to hide from some like, say, the ninja, for instance. Who would suspect to check between a room and a wall to find a path to lead to the goods? Trespassers wouldn't think twice when shunning the last rooms; checking in them for valuable things would be pointless. If there were any wondrous items anywhere, they wouldn't be hidden beyond the front rooms, correct?

_In_correct.

Caroline reached tranquility when she weaseled out of the last of the hallway after maneuvering the corner at the end of the first tunnel, leading the opposite direction in which she'd come in a fashionable manner. There, in the hidden cave, she was relieved to see a Cover-Count of all thirteen caskets, each embroidered with golden trim atop their black woods. The room was a tight squeeze with them all, even as some had stacked over each other, with Father's extra fix-it table shoved against the far wall where the once-impenetrable Zane lay, his eyes an unholy glare to the roof over his head. Father bent over him, his gray hair an unruly tangle haloing his yellowing skin. His lab coat stretched over the arch of his back, the only thing Caroline could see entering the secret room. Peering around him from the distance, she saw Zane's form nearly nude, his lower half covered by a single white towel. His rose-colored lips parted halfway in his final, eternal gasp, Zane wore the painful expression of fear and shock, two emotions Caroline was aware he wasn't programmed with. His arm dangled limply over the side, where a lightning-shaped scar of ash ran down his skin, protruding at the fingertips. A chunk of his cheek had peeled, leaving a raw minimum of silver metal gleaming beneath the false skin.

Caroline held back the pain, scaring it away with a torch. She remembered more than Father thought she did about Zane. She remembered helping Father save his life as a human all those odd years ago when he gave out from beneath that wretched illness, the illness he'd unintentionally passed to her when she kissed him the night before his human form gave out. Oh, yes, she sorrowfully yet unregrettfully had found herself guilty of falling in love with him throughout her career as a healing maid at his service. She knew Zane hadn't even been trying; the only thing he had been trying to do was process what peculiar things were happening in the old, rickety house beyond the Ice Forest. The things he couldn't see happening in the basement were what made him peer curiously over her shoulder, trying his best to understand what she was doing up so late every night, why her father excused himself to days on end to the lab room beneath the first floor. Caroline remembered well the way that he'd reacted when she finally opened the doors to him on the Last Day, his shock when what she had revealed to his dainty knowledge was finally opened. With blood drizzling down his chin in a miniscule stream as he poked at the form of his replacement body, created purely from clockwork, mechanisms so deep that not even Caroline, who'd helped her father all sixteen years of her life unleash the true secrets of the extremities of science, couldn't understand. He had stared at what would become him with a horror so profound, it almost broke her heart to see him hate what she'd worked so hard to create for him so he could finally live in peace. She'd gone to the trouble to test her Memory Machine on him, the piece of time in which would be used to transport his current and past memories onto a small, white chip she could install into his robot to give him, at least, _something _that belonged to him.

"I won't have it!" Zane had yelled, gesturing wildly towards the metal replica of his soul lying flat on the wooden table. "I can't become a—a—a _robot. _Where is the cure in that? I've wasted my last days here in hopes that you could solve my spider problem and yet you continue to fail me, old man. How can I trust anymore now that you've ruined what I acquired? It had _disintegrated _from your selfish—your _stupid _solution. Did you really believe I would agree to such madness?"

With the memories lingering over her as she reached forward to touch Zane's cheek, Caroline realized she'd absentmindedly floated forward, guiding herself past the maze of coffins to him, rubbing his skin in an affectionate manner in hopes that she could somehow comfort his past memory. At her side, her father continued to attach new parts to his ruined insides. "Care, my lovely," he said chipperly, "why don't you be a dear and start opening boxes?"

"Opening them?"

"No more, no less." Father smiled at her, a contortion wrinkling his face. His eyes crinkled at the corners. Old age fearfully ruined his face. Unlike Caroline's forced transformation, Father refused to build himself a body, the wickers of time and destiny fulfilled his only arguments. She frowned at him but turned away, deciding which of the thirteen emblems she should unlock first, holding the key in her palms. She clutched at its promising metals as she reached for the nearest one. The casket's raising side was locked by a single, large, heart-shaped lock as big as her whole hand. Caroline held it against her skin as she raised the key to slide it to the lock, but paused. Did she really wish to do this? Although it had sounded convincingly like a perfect plan beforehand, she felt a stress now at the tension of her argument. Was releasing the army really a good idea?

Dubiously, Caroline turned, knowing she didn't have much time before the ninja got suspicious of her whereabouts. "Father…" she began. She was going to say, _I don't know if I can do this. How can I? What was I thinking? _But instead, words slipped unthought of from her lips, a first in the many piles of first things Caroline had experienced. "Where's Rikku?"

Father turned, startled. His hands froze against Zane's chest. "He's over there," he said at last, nodding to the corner opposite she. Caroline turned to find the one open casket sitting like a dying breath hovering in the air above her. She couldn't see him, but she could sense him, hiding in the plush reforms of the padded casket's silk.

"Why hasn't he come out?" She wondered aloud. Caroline had unlatched the casket after debating long and hard with her father, revealing the handsome, time-rid older brother of Zane's, who also had perished unfairly at the hands of illness.

"After you left, I told him not to," Father admitted. "I didn't know what you wanted me to do with him."

"Oh, Father!" Caroline gasped, rushing towards the casket. It was her fault she'd left his switch unturned to the sleeping setting all these years; Rikku was the last of the army they'd packed away into the hundred caskets purchased for the specific requirements for each droid. Caroline must have been too exhausted to pay mind to the small details such as this that had broken away Rikku. Although he didn't seem to be ruined, she felt awful for letting him sit there as long as he had, an artifact put to silence.

Her hands clasped the edge of the casket. She took in a sharp breath. It had been so long.

"Rikku," she breathed, and his golden eyes met hers.

"Carolyne_, mon cherie!" _He gasped, his accent roiling off his tongue deliciously. As he pronounced her old name, _Care-oh-linn-ee, _she felt a small flash of sadness at the end of a life. But then she smiled at the experience of meeting an old friend, and as he rose his pale body to a sitting position, she wrapped her arms around him, fending off distant memories with the swatting of her hand. His white hair, an obvious generic trait between brothers, was still twisted into the knot at the back of his head, flattened with the pressure of a still head for an eternity. Rikku had been the tremendously attractive of the two feuding brothers when they had both relinquished a life of heartbeat. He'd been the one who enjoyed the world as most figured they did, swimming in the rights they had rather than the beauty of the traits of life. Zane, however, had been opposite until he'd become Infected, a time long before the Reckoning. His strong, leanly muscled arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his wrinkled, black button down. He smelled of cobweb and sage, an essence burned in the secret room a lot, a silent vigil for those who were Reckoned. She buried her face in his hair as she fought the urge to cry.

"It's been too long," he murmured into her hair, pulling back so he could see her properly. She smiled foolishly and wiped her hands over his back.

"And for that I am eternally sorry. It wasn't my intention to leave you awake all these years."

"Pay no mind. I am just happy to see you. And, by the way, nice jammies." He pressed his hand to her arm, gesturing to her pink sweats. Caroline stepped aside so he could catapult himself graciously over the side of his casket, landing with perfect grace beside her. She smiled again at him. Standing a foot and a half over her, he brushed his hands over his trousers, dusting them from their fold against his chest. "I see we've been transported to a new area. Rather…cramped, isn't it?" Rikku shook his head. Silky white strands escaped his hair knot. "Regardless…where's Zane? I heard you mention him before."

Caroline didn't want to, but she explained to him what had happened, trying her hardest not to focus on the heartbreak in Rikku's golden eyes or the way it seemed as though his knees shakily began to give. It broke her heart to have to see such a thing, especially so quickly after being released from an awful captivity beneath a heady wooden cap, a casket of doom. It tore her in half. As a distraction Caroline figured working away at her task would be useful. She jammed the heavy key into locks as she tried to explain to Rikku the premise of her journey: Kai's betrayal, the darkness, Spinjitzu, Lloyd, and the ninja. There were so many things he frowned at, for he didn't understand. How could he? How would he know what Spinjitzu even was? The way he looked at her as she told him that Zane had _been _one of the ninja was astounding. Amusing, too, at his shock.

Each casket she opened revealed an old friend, a relic handed down by generations of illnesses gone bad. One particular illness, but this wasn't the least of concerns on Caroline's mind as she looked to her sleeping brothers and sisters, quiet and unearthly. She left each casket wide open for her father to activate, a skill he'd begin to use after she'd opened them all. Rejuvenating these lost souls would be tricky. This was only thirteen of the one-hundred-forty out there, the remainder of the caskets buried in the chambers of Julien's _real _home, a large mansion located at the outskirts of Maolo town. Each had a switch to power them on, but to ensure no droid could accidentally be activated, they'd had to re-slice wires and dissimulate certain robotic parts to temporarily "kill" them. Listening intently, Rikku grasped the dangling hand of his brother tightly as he sat on the nearest casket, trying to hold back broken tears. Caroline didn't blame him. She was barely holding onto sanity herself. It had been decades since she'd seen Zane; then the day she finally got to meet again the man she'd fallen in love with, he'd also died. It was a foolish, stupid tragedy. She hated it.

As Caroline unlocked, she counted. It was an internal score chart she listened to. Once she'd hit her thirteenth casket, she sighed, until she realized there was one more than there should've been. She frowned. It was the all-gold one beneath Rikku's resting body, tired easy from lack of using his mechanical joints. In fact, now that Caroline observed it better, she realized one of two things, the first being the fact that there was the single, multipurpose sign for "Savior & Weapon" etched into the breast of the casket's cap, and the second being that she'd never seen that casket before in her life. It sparked beneath the dim lights, shiny, brand-new to the world. She discovered that she had not miscounted. There were exactly fourteen caskets in this small room.

"Did you…pack an extra?" She asked, nodding to the large form beneath Rikku. He ran his elegant, long fingers over the ancient rune etched into the wood, a symbol as big as his palm. Zane, unresponsive beneath Julien's touch, didn't flicker as she rested her hand against his leg so she could peer at her father through the thick lenses of his glasses. Father pretended to be hard at work to the gears inside of the broken panel.

"You could say that," he admitted defeatedly.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Caroline leaned against the table, the key pressed to her heart. "What exactly do you mean? What's the 'Savior & Weapon'?"

Father's hands finally reached a rest, setting his tools aside. "Just a moment, Zaney boy," he murmured. Then, waving his hand for Rikku to leap aside, he instead declined the key from Caroline's offering, pulling a dissimilar one from his breast pocket. The silver metal slid into the ultimately golden lock. With a good twist, Caroline heard the quick jarring of the inner springs working themselves to life inside. "This is something I think the ninja will like," her father said. At her side, Caroline saw Rikku frown, scratching his head. His gaze flickered to the dead ice ninja briefly. "I think it will help Lloyd, too."

"You know of his prophecy?" Rikku asked. Caroline was proud he'd quickly caught on to the names of the ninja, and even the brief description she'd given him of Lloyd's destiny. She'd known of it even before the others had; she'd proposed this as an offering when beckoning Mr. and Mrs. Garmadon to her _Bounty. _Although she hadn't anticipated the beloved fire ninja as his sole target, Caroline had read every book there was to know about the history of the ancient scrolls foretelling the mystery of the second Spinjitzu Master's destinies. It came as a consequence for hours of boredom but as a reward for helping out the ninja. Or…what was left of them, anyway.

"Indeed," said Father. He removed the lock. "This will help. This is a savior for our friends, and a little edge against Kai. Now, stay back…" He slowly, surely lifted the casket's cap. From her position, Caroline was unable to see what the golden coffin kept hidden, but she could hear the familiar clicking of a switch being turned on. She waited in vain anticipation and impatience for the casket's surprise to be revealed, like ripping the band-aid off, although she hoped in high expectations that this would not be as painful.

"Keep in mind I have been saving, since I was young, the victims of the greatest illness that is _not _their fault," said Father, bent over the casket. Caroline stood on her toes to try and catch a glimpse of what lay beneath his shadow to no avail, just a prelude of agitation. "I've saved over a hundred innocent lives with my skill for inventing. That's over a _hundred people _who died from Arachnaeus that I resurrected. I was going to do the same with Lloyd until he miraculously healed, something I'm sure has to do with Kai and magic."

At the thought of Arachnaeus, Caroline touched Zane, remembering the blood he'd lost in life because of the Devourer's bloody sickness. Then, she remembered when it happened to herself, and Rikku, and every other poor resurrected soul sitting in the coffins surrounding her.

"So," Father continued, "I figured I'd extend my powers beyond just young people."

"I…beg your pardon?" Caroline frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means…" Father stepped back as the Savior and Weapon raised themselves from the dead, a mechanical mechanism rising from the faulty line. Caroline gasped. The honest blue eyes staring back at her showed no sign of the death that had overcome them, an age-old face she didn't expect to see lying in the golden coffin. "…that you will respectfully and honorably welcome Sensei Wu to the _Bounty Two." _

**XD Yaaaayyy Sensei Wu is back! Isn't it exciting?! **

**Now, this was a really short chapter, but the next one, in the morning when the ninja are actually awake to hear all of this cuz they all just totally passed out XD they'll be able to experience meeting Wu again AND get to learn more about the Clockwork Army, (respectfully titled THE CLOCKWORK ARMY) which we've learned a preface about in this chapter, as summarized below:**

**You learned that Julien (Father) had recreated people who died from Arachnaeus, which also is what Lloyd was infected with in the first book, SHADOW DANCER. So that basically tells you that Zane had it **_**way **_**before Lloyd did. You also learned that Zane didn't **_**want **_**to be a robot. The process of becoming a droid is that Julien recreated a replicated robot body for Zane. Caroline, who's been inventing sciencey projects with her father all her mortal life and even into her robotic one, had created a device that allowed her to take Zane's memories and put them onto a little chip that they could install into his body to make him ZANE rather than a random robot **_**named **_**Zane. Now, the Memory Switch, a mechanism that made Zane forget his past in the TV series of "Ninjago," has been tweaked enough in the story to where it also accidentally erased all memories before his Awakening after his Reckoning. (A TERM WHICH IM SURE YOU'RE DYING TO KNOW THE DEFINITION OF! :D) So therefore, Zane didn't remember Caroline at **_**all **_**when he stepped aboard the **_**Bounty 2 **_**in the final chapter of SHADOW DANCER. He also won't remember that segment of his mortal life, including who Rikku is. :( Sad he can't remember his own brother, but whatever, he's dead and it won't matter.**

…**or will it? **

**And keep in the back of your head that SHADOW DANCER did feature the fact that**_** Jay made him his own personal memory chip**_** … there could be a connection there! :D**

**Okay, well, I'll let you guys go now. :D Thanks for viewing, plz review, and PLEASE go have a great day/night/morning/evening!**

_**P.S… Rikku will have more of a character in the next chapter, "THE CLOCKWORK ARMY."**_


	12. Chapter 11: THE MORE, THE MERRIER

_**Mwahahahahaha! **_**:D Just watched an episode of Ninjago to get my game face on for a ridiculously miniscule chapter about Kai and Misako. They have a mini-heart to heart! Cue the OOOHS and AAAHHHs put on the proverbial cue cards, located just beyond a point past my head. ^.^**

**And next, we'll find a chapter after this marvelous chapter, Chapter 12, that's about my favorite little ninja, Lloyd. :D And also, Cole. *Gasps* Yep. About Cole. Who is my second (?I think) favorite. You know, I can't ever put the ninja in a ranking of how I like them other than Lloyd is my first, then everyone follows after that in an equally adored manner. I love them all too darn much. DX Which could be a serious issue on my behalf, but OH WELL THEY'RE MY NINJA AND I LOVE THEM ANYWAY. :D**

**You know what else I love? You guys, my readers. :) You guys are so awesome for reading this. Ok. I'll shut up now bc I totally sound like an idiot. :P**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_11. The More, the Merrier_

KAI RAN HIS HANDS along the edge of the seat with the ghost of a nervous habit. Dangling over his head was the familiar pulsing light, breathing deeply against the back of his neck. He kept his eyes averted from the green orb, slyly maneuvering its way around the small, gapless sanctuary of Samokai's Bone Trekker. It hovered momentarily over Misako with a dark, almost muted chuckle. Across from him, Kai glimpsed the shadow of Pythor's uncomfortable shifting, his tail curling nervously around itself. He couldn't detect a definite emotion from Eloquim, but there was the mutual feeling of nervousness lingering before them, and just as well, it was easily detected. The green orbital ghost shifted forward as it hovered in front of Kai's face.

"So," it said lowly, a scratchy voice that faded in and out like tuning a radio. "Look who joined the party. A pesky little ninja!"

Kai curled half his mouth downwards into a snarl. "If I'm right, you better watch what you say, Overlord. I brought you into this realm. I can sure as hell take you right back out."

The Overlord made a gesture with its bobbing form that seemed to convey what Kai imagined as the tilting back of the chin, a regard through half-lidded eyes. He stared at it levelly without having the slightest clue where to look, so instead he focused on the center, a yellowish green compared to the deep hue of the outer rings. Before, it would've made him nervous facing the devilish, pure evil creature that had practically destroyed Ninjago, but now, with the lack of reaction and emotion Kai could give, it was hardly anything to stare "face to face" with the one thing that had tried to kill him.

In fact, just about every one of his associates sitting in this vehicle had tried to kill him once or twice.

The Overlord finally, with a dismissive dive, retreated back to hovering over Misako, throwing comments at her like darts. No sympathy points were earned from Kai. He examined his gloves, protecting the burning lava form they'd soon taken on since his initial transformation. If he removed the protective, leathery gear, his opponent would soon face the loss of a limb. His magma palms could tear through flesh and bone so quickly, there would hardly be a redemption; some kind of amputation would have to be made. He raised his eyes to find Misako staring at him through her lenses coldly.

"I know you're in there," she said at last, her motherly voice soothing. "I know there's still you beyond the lie you live now, Kai. No man would turn so quickly from the loving brother you were to the vile, cold, repulsive creature you are now."

Kai rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Misako. Keep telling yourself that."

"That's a false façade right there." She nodded to him. Her long, gray hair fell untied from her braid over her shoulders, encircling her friendly face in a halo that he'd never actually seen before; if she wasn't so old, maybe she could've been beautiful, in a motherly, friendly way that you viewed old people in. "I know how people work. There's not one person on this earth who can forget so easily what they try to destroy."

"Sure," Kai stared at her levelly, pulling her under the pressure of his steely green gaze. She shifted uncomfortably as the Overlord laughed above her, a firsthand sign of weakness, something Kai reveled in. "That's a great motto to live by. Just ask your son and husband! Oh, wait." Kai rolled his eyes. "You can't. Because they don't believe in that crap."

Misako shook her head. But Kai continued, leaning forward, elbows on his knees as he excitedly took verbal poison and shoved it down her throat, swimming in the fact that he could hurt her without feeling one damn thing. "Tell me, Misako: How can you forgive now that your husband has tried to murder you, your son, your friends, not to mention causing so much trouble in your homeland that whenever people see you, they know that _you, _Misako Garmadon, were stupid enough to marry the person who made people feel pain?" He leaned so close they were practically nose to nose, forcing her to look into his eyes, for there was nowhere else to turn. "How can you forgive when your son tried to kill his own father out of anger instead of rationally assessing the situation, almost killing himself, and hiding it from you? How can you forgive when there are still secrets amongst your 'mended' family that you still aren't aware of? How can you forgive when every damn thing you are is to be _used?" _

He waited for reaction, even giving her a few moments to process his wordy daggers. Yet she continued to stare him in the eye and keep blinking and breathing, a moment as though she didn't care, a sign she wasn't about to let him know what inside burned so gruesomely tears could've spilled. With her hands folded neatly in her lap, their audience of villains watched, captivated, as her back straightened beneath her denim jacket, brushing her hair from her face. Misako stared at him hard and long before she ever spoke a word to him:

"How can you just forget who you were?" She asked softly. "How can you throw away every memory you had of your happiness beyond you as a ninja alongside your brothers? How can you continue to torture them the way you have? You've struck a million blows to their hearts in one day. You have _killed your own brother." _Her voice rose as continued. "You've ruined the most magnificent relationship of your own sister with petty, senseless little things!"

"She had that coming," Kai snapped without thinking, allowing himself to momentarily veer from the subject. "She slept with Cole. Jay had a right to know."

Tears edged Misako's eyes. "But did you want him to know because you care about him or because you knew it would give you a fighting chance to win this thing?"

"What do _you _think? You're a smart woman, Misako; figure it out." Kai leaned back in his seat, resting his head gently against the wall, closing his eyes for a blissful but brief moment. He didn't need sleep any longer, but the memory of the sensation was tempting, especially after this long, long day. They had big plans ahead of them; very big plans indeed. Once they reached Maolo town, the clock would start, and then he and Lloyd's Great Battle would once begin. By now he'd probably already figured out the quick demand for the possession of the Shadow Key. Anticipation edged his fingertips as he eagerly awaited their arrival, which the Overlord, hovering near Pythor now, had announced moments earlier. At the Overlord's side, Pythor wriggled his tail again. Kai met his eyes and couldn't resist a laugh.

They were building their strength in numbers first, a sketch on the larger, much more epic plan that would soon follow through. But they needed to get as many weapons as they could gather first. Any weapon that could be deadly enough to postpone the ninja, should they decide to pursue Kai's growing army in the quest to find Ouroboros and reach the Shadow Key in time. The thought of clutching the golden hilt in his hands made Kai's fingers tremble.

"Why, look at that!" exclaimed Pythor enthusiastically. "Maolo town—straight ahead! Get your acts together, everyone; we've got a show stopper to impress_sssss!" _He gave a dastardly laugh. Misako bowed her head in shame.

Kai looked at her, empty. "Get ready, Grandma," he said viciously. "Put your bifocals on right because you've got a lot of reading to do."

This time, she didn't fight back.

But the ugly boy-girl did. "What show stopper?" She cried, shifting positions so she could gaze, brown eyed, at the group of villains. "What are you talking about?"

Brave enough, Kai decided, to ask questions, but annoying enough to say anything. He rubbed his face as Pythor began to explain, a slow, deliberate process he took to say in an insulting matter. "We have just one more fiend to gain on our side. This is when the _true _nightmare begins. Marvelous! A nightmare, just for the ninja! Could I get any happier?" Pythor chuckled darkly.

"No," said the Overlord, irritated, at the violet snake's cackling.

Kai's emerald eyes gleamed as Misako frowned. "Who else is there for you to recruit?" She asked dully. She seemed to have lost interest, lost the luster of life she had…It was most amusing.

"I'm glad you asked!" Pythor said. "You see, he's a rather delicate little thing. He's really—oh!" The snake gasped, his hand flying to his hip. He plucked a small black form from his scales. Eyes wide, he examined the mutatedly large body while stroking it gently with the featherlight tip of his finger, rubbing against the oily "skin" of the spider. "Oh, my beauty, you've returned. Marvelous." He enthusedly rested the fat Black Widow against his shoulder as he continued. The poisonous, infected spider that had taken both a chomp out of Kai and Lloyd had grown larger with the drops of their powerful blood it had consumed, transforming it into a small yet not miniscule creature the length of his thumb. Dancing happily beside Pythor, the Overlord continued the story, taking large, audible breaths for Misako to hear. Its fading voice added a mystic, cryptic message beyond the dead.

"Our ally," it huffed, "would rather travel its own distances than come alongside us, per se."

"So it is disloyal?" Misako said quietly.

"No," sighed Kai, looking around. "It's just stubborn."

In response, the ground beneath the Bone Trekker shook, forcing Samokai to cause a quick reaction involving the slamming of the brakes and a quick jolt to those in the safety cap beneath him. Everything rumbled violently against the ground with the loud screaming of the rocks beneath them protesting from the disruption. Then, there was a loud, ungracious wail, high pitched and screeching. Kai smiled. "Actually, I think that's him now," he said.

"What is it?" cried the ugly girl.

"That, young obnoxious little pest," said Eloquim, standing from his seat, holding his staff protectively in his hand, "is the next step in the road to eternal redemption." There was a loud screech from beyond the Bone Trekker. Kai stood to his own two feet. Misako watched intently, listening to the screaming as the shaking of the vehicle became more violent while it came forth, a beckoning like so for impending doom. Kai touched his wrist at the jolt from inside of him.

Then, the old woman finally gasped. She turned on Kai with an expression of true anger, surprise, and disappointment. The wheels turned beneath her eyes; there was only one creature elligable for making such a loud noise. Kai watched her discover each element inside of her mind before she could choke out, and not a moment too soon, for the ally had wrapped itself around Samokai's vehicle fatally, _"You reawakened the Devourer?!"_

Kai followed Eloquim up the staircase, calling haughtily over his shoulder, "And this time, I'll make sure it is the snake who wins this next step in the Great Battle's journey. I won't lose." He paused, adding, "I'll kill anything or anyone who stands in my way—and don't think little Lloyd is an exception." Misako gasped.

And then he was gone.

**PLEASE REVIEW! XD And go have an awesome day/night. And if you see the color green, please take the time to remember our beloved nindroid and point at it and yell, **_**GREEN!**_** for me, will ya? ^.^**


	13. Chapter 12: THE RETURN

_**Hello, **_**everyone! :D It's a Snow Day for me. Stayed home cos it's like -30 degrees out. . GROSS. But anyway, I spent the majority of it writing up the next chapter of T. A. O. T, called "The Return"! It's a chapter that views the POV of Jay, Cole, **_**and **_**Lloyd. :D You also get to see a little of tension between a couple of characters, who you can easily assume their identities. :D So. Go ahead and read it! I loved writing it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! **

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_12. The Return_

Jay rubbed his eyes of the beautiful, dreamless sleep he'd endured all night, rolling onto his back beneath the lightweight quilt he'd stolen from the closet in the hall. Sunlight peered through the small square window on the opposite side of the room. The rectangular wooden shades lay horizontally across the windowpane, creating a mimicking shadow of bars across Jay's blanket, turning it to a canvas of multiple shades of purple. He blinked at the sudden light and pulled himself to a sitting position. The bed groaned loudly beneath his weight.

Okay... That wasn't the best night of sleep he could've possibly had. If it was necessary to complain, he would've committed an argument that the bed was too hard, so hard he doubted there were springs, just rocks inside. He also would've commented on the fact that the comforter was as stiff as a plank. And that he swore he woke in the middle of the night at the crawling of something across his leg. But complaining was very unnecessary in the event that he actually had a place to sleep rather than the stone cold ground of the never ending desert. He was just glad to be in a place he could actually familiarize with.

Jay rubbed his sore neck, dragging his hand across his wrinkled blue undershirt, now looking a rather deep tone of turquoise. When he'd shuffled into the bedroom last night, he hasn't expected to be roommates with Angus, the little twelve-year-old looking robot boy who seemed to know everything. His little round glasses askew on his face, he'd peered at Jay over the top of the bunkbed, a pleasant smile on his face. "Hi, Jay,"

Angus had murmured.

"You don't mind if I sleep in here, do you?" Jay had asked. Running a hand through his hair, he felt it hard to suck in a breath as he stood there, awkwardly, looking anywhere but at Angus. The room was barren compared to what the old Bounty had consisted of; this room only had one bunk bed, pressed against the left wall from the viewpoint of the doorway. "I don't feel very, uh, comfortable in the other room."

Angus had sat up, his curly hair a giant red mop atop his head. It was a lighter hue than Caroline's, but seemingly from the same generic makeup. "I understand. Come on in!"

Now, Jay felt lightheaded as he remembered everything that had happened yesterday. He didn't want to, but the memories haunted him, looming deadly above his soul as they flung knives into his heart. He wondered, dazed, how he was still here. Why, even. He'd lost everything: His best friend, his girlfriend, his favorite nindroid, his home, his stuff, everything he'd brought with him from the junkyard to the Bounty. It wasn't the first time that Jay had experienced such tragedy; need he forget when the monestary burned to the ground from the eternal fire the snakes had set as revenge? Yet this time, it felt worse. It hurt worse. Because last time, he hadn't lost Nya, or Kai, or even technically Zane. He hadn't had his heart shatter into a million pieces in his chest, cutting him up until he was no longer anything, until he was the hollow shell of the man he'd once been. He hated himself for still believing in it, but he did still love Nya, although it was hard to tell through the irreverstable mask he'd slid onto himself like sliding the masquerade to his face. There was seemingly this cold fog drifting around him.

It took him a moment to realize the only reason he was still here was Lloyd.

Lloyd didn't have anyone else. He had nothing but the clothes on his back. His mother was kidnapped, his father was AWOL, and Kai, the one person who it seemed like Lloyd loved more than anything, was on a betraying rampage. So Jay couldn't leave him in the hands of Nya, whom at the thought of her name Jay gave a small whimper, and Cole, and the whole nasty, random bunch of droids.

Suddenly, Angus' head appeared, dangling upside down over the side of the bunk. "Good morning!" He yelled in a small voice. Jay screamed. Leaping sideways, he bumped his elbow against the cold, wooden wall, sending a violent shock through his body. Lightning shot from his fingers, catching the edge of the leg of the bunk, sending a good triumphant chunk flying across the edge of the room. Angus frowned but didn't react any further, instead letting his hair fall to a large crescent Afro encircling his head in an orange-red. The eerie silence hung between them for a moment before the childish, creepy grin returned to his face. "How'd ya sleep?!"

"Uh, well." Jay answered, caressing his stinging elbow. "You?"

"Oh, VERY well, mmhmm." Angus nodded enthusiastically. "Guess what? I feel awesome!" With that, Angus catapulted himself from the bunk in a successful backwards flip, landing gently on his feet. The young boy, lithe as a cat, straightened his back and turned, revealing his Red pajamas decorated with sunbursts of green. He smiled like a normal, ruffled little boy. He acted as any young child would, despite his enhanced ability of a database jam-packed with every detail that could make up the world's core. It was a little cool for Jay to see that Julien had provided the boy with emotion so powerful—emotion that Zane never had—it made him seem almost human. Almost.

"That's good, kiddo," Jay kicked off the covers, swinging his feet over the side of the rock-hard bed. "Glad to hear it. Now, I'm gonna go take a shower, if you don't mind."

Angus watched him go, his chin tilted downwards with his eyes narrowed to a point where it caused a dark shadow to cross his face. Jay pretended not to notice, whistling his way out the door, but he could've sworn once he cleared the threshold he heard a faint, deep chuckle come from somewhere beneath the surface of Angus' facade.

COLE

Cole stepped out of the bathroom just in time to come face to face with a groggy looking Jay, an encounter he had hoped he wouldn't have to experience so quickly in the morning. He stepped back, surprised, with the towel wrapped around his lower half. Jay stared at him blankly for a moment before his thin lips curled into a damning scowl. Cole didn't need any kind of physical warning that there was a bitter hate rolling off Jay in tidal waves aimed to knock Cole over. Once more, he sighed, feeling completely awful for what he'd done. Yesterday, Jay had seemed happy enough that Cole was alive. But it was obvious reality had sunk in, leaving this tense silence hanging between them.

Cole figured it wasn't wise, but he opened his mouth anyway. They needed to talk about this. "Jay..." He began, his voice small and cracking.

Jay shoved past him, ignoring him completely. Before he shut the door, he paused, speaking over his shoulder instead of facing Cole. "You better not have used up all the hot water," Jay snapped. "Or I'm going to be pissed."

The door slammed.

Cole winced. Shame was all he could seem to feel. As he turned away to the bedroom, he thought about what he and Nya had talked about the previous night before retreating to their bedrooms. They discussed how they would approach this situation they screwed up so badly. In the end, Cole didn't know how they could come to Jay, get him to actually sit Down and listen to them. They couldn't fix what they'd done, but maybe they could try and help him accept that it had happened, and that despite how much pain they were putting him through and the emblems that left Cole forever ache inside knowing he'd broken one of the largest rules of brotherhood, he couldn't make himself fall out of love with Nya.

Lord. Thinking it made him hurt and happy at the same time. He knew it was awful, just something that happened over time, but there was no way he could deny it anymore. Cole hadn't known how he would've survived watching her marry Jay, as Jay had brought up before all this traumatic stuff had happened that he had the ring and was duly planning on making her his forever. Everyone but Cole had been happy about it. He was hoping Kai wouldnt give a brother's consent to marriage, but somehow it managed to, for once, become the one day Kai finally threw up his hands and give up trying to stop them. Cole had known that he, as a slave of Nya's person, would never have stopped them, never said anything, because his only concern was making sure she was happy. If Nya was happy, then he could be, too.

But at the same time...

He hated himself for doing his to Jay. He hated how this had come up. But in a way, he was also glad that Jay now knew. And he would do what he could to try and raise this baby for her, even taking it a away from her if she didn't want it. He'd do anything for her. Anything. Because he loved her more than he could ever love himself.

In the bedroom Cole shared with Lloyd, he went to the closet, a feat that hadnt been available for the previous Bounty. On the bottom bunk, Lloyd lay curled beneath his heavy blankets, a small, shivering form below the surface. Cole felt bad for him. Throughout the night, Lloyd had given small, helpless little cries in his sleep, tears sweating across his face. His shivering had become so violent it shook the whole bunk. And it seemed that, paranormally, Cole couldn't shake him from his dreams in which he'd sunk forever into; no shaking or calling for him had retrieved him from the dark place he now inhabited, a place hidden deep beneath him. So, finally, at the early hours of the morning he assumed was three, he'd leaped quietly from his bed to wrap his own blanket around Lloyd. Lloyd's eyes had briefly opened so he could see Cole through a foggy, misunderstanding gaze. Then he'd gone back to quietly whimpering and calling out names. Cole sat, listening to the cries for Kai, the pleading for Misako, the begging for Zane. It repeated at painful intervals throughout the rest of the hour until, with the sun just peering through the blinds, Lloyd had gasped out, "Cole, Cole help me! It's coming! Cole please! Please!"

His frightened tone had forced Cole to sit in the bed beside Lloyd and hold the small boy against him. This was one of those moments that made Cole remember that he was still just a young boy, trapped in the body of a sixteen year old, barely able to understand why he had become the one person in th world who could save it from anything else. As an onlooker, Cole could imagine the stress. Really, he couldn't. All he knew was that he would help Lloyd through this—whatever it was—for he wouldn't be alone. He'd never be alone.

Now, Cole yanked a pair of jeans off a hanger, eyeballing Lloyd as he muttered something about bones below his breath. With his hands tucked around the pillow clung to his chest, Cole caught sight of something on his right hand, the bloodied image of an eye tattooed to his skin. edging closer, Cole observed that it was indeed an eye, be holding a small green circle in the middle. Cole frowned again. What was it? Where had it come from?

He made the mistake of touching it. Then he, too, was sucked into a darkness beyond himself, closing shadows over his eyes to where he couldn't see, pulling him under into a dream so dark, it was unbecoming, and all Cole could feel was an immense cold surrounding his body as though he'd been thrown into a lake of ice and forced to sit, frozen, until he felt someone grab him beneath the arms and yank him upwards into the red earth above.

LLOYD

"Where am I?" gasped Cole as Lloyd yanked him from the Arctic Polar. He threw him with a low grunt onto the ice as the earth ninja, clad in a new ninja suit Lloyd knew hadn't come from the Real World, gasped and looked around for some kind of guidance. His silver eyes, wide with fear and startled shock, scoured the land around him. Lloyd watched his bushy brows duck with confusion. They stood across the frozen Arctic Polar Lake, the only thing in this hell-bent universe that had water consistency. The nearest landmark around the lake was the Tall, wide, deep burgundy Magma Shift Mountain, puking drizzles of lava from its zenith, crushing the trees gathered at its base as though they worshipped it. Then, south of where they stood, there was a massive thunderstorm attacking a wooded forest, named Light Strike Wood, housing deadly creatures feeding off fear, unaffected by the natural disaster striking their homes. And east there was the option of crawling your way across the grueling maggot-infested rocky lands of Rock Trap Tundra. The sky overhead was a deep, dark red, with three orange suns handing in the sky in a triangular formation spread across the elemental-based land.

Cold stared in horror. "Lloyd, where–where are we?" he stumbled to his feet on the thick sheet of ice beneath his feet glancing down at his black form, then at Lloyd's golden one. "Where did I get this? Where did YOU get THAT?" He nodded to the uniform Lloyd sported, a perk that came with being transported into this supernatural land. It was a completely complicated process he hardly understood himself, other than the fact that it was from the Mark tattooed to his hand.

"This is the Elemental Realm," Lloyd explained. "They sent me here to get what i need to retrieve before I can go back."

"They? Retrieve? What? What is it you need to get?" Cole stayed close to Lloyd's side as he walked easily over the snow-bound ice in his golden boots. He saw Cole examining his new suit out the corner of his eye. With black being the basic color, the upper surface was encoded with designs imposed to replicate the images of rocks and earth in a light gray hue, spread throughout across his body. His shoulder pads, a light gold color, extended a length down his arms to end in a pointed sheath mid-forearm, designed for a purpose of being a weapon and to hide things underneath. "Where did I get this? What's going on, Lloyd?"

Lloyd glanced at him. "You got that from the Spinjitzu Masters," he explained. "They provide us with these things when we enter."

"Enter. How did we get here?" Cole asked, wrapping his arms around himself. "Seriously. It's negative four-thousand degrees out here. Can't, er, 'they' make it warmer here?"

Lloyd shook his head. "No," he said. "The former Spinjitzu Masters can't control the land; the current Spinjitzu Masters do. The elemental segments are based off the emotions each current master experiences. And also, what actions they make, whether they're violent or nonviolent, can alter the peace or unpeace of a segment. They can only inhabit the land in various forms and hope for the best."

"Wait, so, right now, does that mean I'm controlling the earth part of this place?" When Lloyd nodded, Cole threw up his hands. "Screw this, then! Let's go over there. Much warmer!"

But Lloyd shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "I'm not done over here yet. But now that you're here, it means that I CAN go. I need the elemental beholder's permission to enter an area, or else I'll get yelled at." Lloyd frowned at the childishness of the comment but continued walking.

"Then how can you be here? Zane's not even..." Cole trailed off, stepping on a hard chunk of protruding ice and almost falling. Lloyd, who'd just crossed the same obstacle, raised his brow at him. Cole opened his hands in a _Whaddya-gonna-do _gesture. "What? You can't expect me to be an earth ninja _and_ a ballet dancer?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes. Just then, there was the sound of sliding friction, ice dragging across itself with a large squeal until it turned into the heavenly less-painful sound of it rolling across snow. Cole frowned, his diamond eyes meeting Lloyd's emeralds, gleaming as Lloyd gave him a triumphant smile. Pride filled his heart as Cole turned to view the mini ice wave coming towards them. When it halted few feet from them, Cole gave a gasp. "Wh–what?" He stuttered. "But..."

Lloyd ran forward as the Ice Rider dismantled his wave, crashing against him with his arms wrapping around the familiar body shape. He couldn't help it as he grinned like a fool. "You _came_! I called you and you _came_!"

"I shall always come to you when you call, brother," Zane murmured, returning the warm hug. Lloyd pressed his chin against Zane's shoulder, rid of the shoulder pads on his new uniform, ecstatic to even just _feel _his realness, his wholeness in itself entirely. It was a miraculous reuniting that made Lloyd want to cry. He didn't think anyone understood how _much _he missed Zane. Behind him, Cole slowly inched forward.

"Zane?" He asked quietly, cautiously. Lloyd beamed. For once in a long while, he didn't feel so alone. "Is that really you?"

Zane's pale blue eyes filled as he opened his arms, a welcoming. His suit, similar to Cole's except for the sleek white fabric and light blue ice shards decorating it, gleamed under one of the orange moon hovering over them entrancingly. Cole watched him tentatively with a careful eye, his body shifting like he wanted to run to Zane but didn't know that he ever could. Zane sighed, but smiled anyway, knowing that Cole needed reassurance before trust could ever fully come to him.

"Yes, Cole," Zane said softly, opening his arms again, and this time, Cole stepped willingly into them, their uniforms clashing colors against the frozen tundra. After an embracing moment, they turned to Lloyd, opening their arms to him, too. "It will _always_ be me."

**ZAANNNEE! X3 I MISSED YOU! **

**Now I'm happy. : ) I missed our favorite little nindroid. Now. Please review, and please go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night, and if you see something green, shout "GREEN!" for me, will ya? (And for Zane. :P)**


	14. Chapter 13: THE SUN ALSO RISES

**Here's one last little chapter for you guys today—it's 19 pages of action-packed, Lloyd Garmadon and his Elemental Realm mission! I think you guys are gonna like this one. X3**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_13. The Sun Also Rises_

"WE NEED JAY'S PERMISSION to enter Lightning Strike Woods!" yelled Lloyd over the heavy rush of wind attacking his face. With Cole and Zane hard at his heels, he kicked snow out of his way, pushing his weight against the elemental gusto threatening a fierce fall out of the ninja. He stood a little taller knowing that Zane was behind him, but felt a little slack because he knew that Zane couldn't come back with them. This was where his soul—or whatever it was called for nindroids—was banished to after his death, a place that all Spinjiztu Masters had to endure when they left earth. From his Ultimate Spinjitzu Master senses, he knew that if they looked hard enough, they'd find Sensei Wu hidden in the cracks of the Elemental Realm, probably unknowing of their arrival, in some hidden form or another.

"How can we do that?" Cole shouted. "He doesn't even know we're here!"

"Perhaps if we tried to communicate with him, he could hear us," Zane offered wisely as they neared the edge of the iceberg-ridden lake. Now that Lloyd had Zane, just what he'd come to the frozen waters for, they had to move quickly so he could get everything his inner senses told him he needed to gather. He couldn't leave if he didn't.

Leave a _dream. _Only, it wasn't a dream. What Cole and Lloyd stood in now was what appeared as a dream but actually was them literally existing in two dimensions at once; he didn't know how it was possible, but here he was, with a dead nindroid at his side and walking through a snow in the middle of a red-skied world with three orange suns. Strange, but somehow he just _knew _it was real. It had to be.

Clearly, Cole wasn't understanding the situation properly. "Why don't we go the other way until we figure out what to do?" He motioned to the Rock Tundra behind them.

"We can only move clockwise," Zane explained. "It would be unwise to move against the current."

"Ugh!" Cole tripped, landing into a drift of snow, his black form disappearing into the fluff. Lloyd skidded to a stop, watching as Zane reached out a black gloved hand to help Cole up. The hard-edged earth ninja sat from the gentle white powder with tiny, miniscule flakes in his hair, on his shoulders. Lloyd laughed. _Big tough guy, _he thought, _and he's covered in snow. _Zane chuckled as Cole dusted away the obnoxious little flakes from his uniform, shaking his boots to allow them to slide from the black, flat-footed pair. "See? Ridiculous. I hate it. Hate snow."

Zane laughed, despite the fact that he was dead. He looked as real as Cole did, standing beside him, blending with the background escaping behind him, his pale blonde hair still shifting in the wind. Snowflakes disintegrated on his skin as though it were real. Lloyd didn't understand how possible this was, but he realized he wouldn't leave without Zane. He couldn't. How could he abandon his brother here to rot in this place?

Cole looked to Lloyd, then to Zane, his gaze shifting belligerently between the two. "Okay, Wise Guys, what are we supposed to do if we can only move clockwise and neither Jay _nor _Kai, who it looks like is just beyond that really scary thunderstorm, can give us permission?" He put his hands to his hips. "Riddle me _that, _Tin Man."

Zane thought about it for a moment. Then, he took a few steps back, raising his face to the blood red sky above him. Lloyd watched, intrigued, as he raised his arms slowly, letting his feet rise off the ground, levitating him into the air as wisps of gold surrounded him, enveloping him in yellow and orange halos. Then, without warning, Zane released a strike of ice shards from his hands, directing them in the honest point of the forest of lightning, catching a tree with his frozen element. It seemed as though the tree screamed at them, lingering beside the threshold where the elements suddenly dropped off, a clash of pure white then an instant transition of grass, gray from the shadow of the storm that extended across the whole Lightning nation laid out before them. Lloyd frowned, wondering what was going on, when he suddenly understood that Zane was trying to _reach _Jay by attacking his elemental section. He gasped and hurled a fireball onto the tree's base. It evaporated quickly, but not before leaving an eternal mark. The tree screamed again in a wail that sounded a lot like Jay's.

"I think I see what you're doing there!" Cole said, but he wasn't able to use his element on the ground in Zane's sector. Which wasn't too bad, considering Lloyd threw a wave of dirt at the tree anyway.

"_YOW!" _yelled a voice. "What _is _that?!"

Lloyd glanced down at his hands and caught a glimpse of the red mark across his skin. He then narrowed his eyes, staring up towards the thunderstorm, and let out a huge wave of fire, attacking the cloud with as gentle a flame he could manage. "JAY!" He yelled as loud as he could. "JAY!"

"JAYWALKER!" Cole cupped his hands over his mouth, shouting towards the storm. "JAAYYYY! MOUTH OF LIGHTNING! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Zane took a shot, too, hurling the ice towards the ground. "Jay!" He yelled, lacking the luster that Cole and Lloyd forced through their throats, a burn continuing to scatter through their vocal chords. Lloyd threw what he could at the storm, until finally, it began to shrink, turning the lightning into tiny little cracks of thunder across a small gray cloud. It was working. The anger Jay must've been feeling was starting to subside, leaving him clueless; there was a gasp as a fourth sun appeared from behind the clouds.

"**JAY YOU STUPID NINJA I'M TALKING TO YOU ANSWER ME I'M FREEZING MY ASS OFF AND IF YOU DON'T ANSWER ME I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" **Cole screamed, and hurled a rock from the bitterness of his fingertips in an elegant arc as it crashed against the tree the three ninja had been harassing for the past ten minutes. Poor tree…

Lloyd assaulted it again with a wave of his green Spinjitzu Powers and let out another cry of his own.

**JAY**

The glass shattered against the platinum table, sending shards hurdling in every which way, forcing Nya to jump back from the table with her hands clapped over her mouth. Jay held his bleeding arm in his hand as the cut, provided to him by some invisible weapon, attacked him, slicing him and cutting him with whatever it was. He shot out a ray of electricity into the air, catching the corner of the dining room with an explosion. He glared at the blood seeping through his shirt. This injury was completely, totally, undeniably _stupid. _

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Jay yowled as he felt like someone dropped a rock on his foot. He swung his fists blindly in the air in hopes to catch a piece of that sucker and smack him a good one across the face. Stupid invisible enemies and their stupid invisibility powers. He'd show them! The ninja of lightning wouldn't let them get away with this…

He zapped the air as it felt like a ray of heat flanked his back, sending him into a frenzious fit. "_Leave me alone!" _He shouted. _"GO AWAY! _I KNOW SPINJITZU!"

Angus appeared in the doorway as he watched Jay struggle with nothing. "Jay? Jay!"

"CANT YOU SEE I'M BUSY?!" Jay screamed. He was hot, he was irritated, he was frustrated, he was angry, and he was being attacked, and Nya was standing there like an idiot staring at him without helping. It proved what good she was for, he thought bitterly, and took a huge kick to the air as his foot felt numb with cold.

"Lloyd and Cole are shouting for you!" Angus told him. "I don't know where they are but I think they're downstairs!" Angus took a broom and poked the air beside Jay with it, though it collided with nothing. Jay's back suddenly felt as though it were on fire again, even as it pressed flat against the wall; he gave a loud, angry growl, sending lightning flying through the air. Nya screamed and jumped back.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Jay shouted. Angus swung the broom again. "NO ONE'S LAUGHING! GO AWAY! STOP—_YOW!" _Jay grabbed his palm as he got stabbed with another invisible, icy dagger.

"Run, Jay!" shouted Angus. "GO!"

"Ninja don't run!"

Angus looked at him incredulously. "NINJA, _GO!" _He shoved Jay, forcing him out the doorway. Abandoning Nya with Angus, he ran down the steps from the dining room to the main deck. On the other side of the doorway, Jay finally heard what Angus was talking about; the distant echoes of his name, accompanied by colorful words, seemed to waft from the doorway leading to the lower deck. Tentatively, feeling the air for any kind of demonic presence that could attack him, he made his way down the dark staircase, unsure of where exactly the next step was. For a fleeting moment, he wondered where the heck Caroline was; Nya mentioned she hadn't been to bed last night in a moment before they'd began yelling at each other like the broken couple they were.

At the bottom of the stairs, he heard it clearer now. Jay felt his back heat up again, but he ignored it this time; instead, he reached for the door, closed tightly, but thin enough for Jay to hear them shouting on the other side. "JAY!" Lloyd shouted, his voice rising an octave. "JAY, HELP!"

"_JAY, HURRY UP! JAY!" _Cole screamed. It was hard for Jay to tell if they were in danger or not, but from the way Lloyd kept screaming for help, it was obvious enough that something was wrong. His hand closed on the handle and he shoved it open, revealing Cole sprawled across the floor in just a pair of pants, but with blood drizzling from his nose in a steady, fat stream. He gasped. Lloyd laid in a tangled heap on his bed, wrapped in the sheets, but his face was twisted into a foolish, pained mask as he grabbed onto his blankets with tight, white knuckles. Both were pale as ghosts, white as Lloyd's sheets. Jay ran to them.

"_Jay!" _yelled Lloyd again, but the green ninja hadn't moved. Instead, his brows furrowed as he buried his face deeper into his pillow. Jay frowned, straightening.

"Lloyd?" Jay looked between them, unsure of what to do. The voice came from somewhere, but Jay couldn't tell where as he bent down beside Cole, dabbing the blood from the earth ninja's lips.

"JAY!" shouted Cole's voice, but his mouth never moved. The words seemed to emanate from somewhere above them, a lingering in the air. Suddenly he wasn't so sure this was real or if it was a trick by whatever jackwagon was attacking him with stabs and flame. He looked at Lloyd again.

"Jay, _please!" _Lloyd's voice cried again. "You have to let us in!"

"Let you in _where?" _Jay cried. "Lloyd, what's going on?"

"Jay? Jay! You heard me!" Relief passed through Lloyd's voice as he gave a happy laugh. "Jay, you have to let us into your sector or we can't move on!"

"My—my _what?"_

"JAY!" yelled Cole. "Jay, you need to—"

"I know what my name is, for crying out loud!" Jay wailed. Behind him, he heard the noise of footsteps, and the revelation of Caroline standing in the doorway, looking down on him. She gasped at the gruesome sight of Cole, falling to her knees beside him, feeling his throat for a pulse.

She turned to Jay, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"CUT IT, WISE-ASS, I'M NOT IN THE MOOD," Cole yelled, sounding furious. Jay flinched. "I'm freezing _cold _in here. And—"

"In where, your body?" Jay glanced at the limp form, sprawled across the brown planks in an admittedly weird angle.

"NO. In Lloyd's."

"What?" Jay frowned.

"NO, not _in my body_!" Lloyd yelled, sounding desperate against the circumstances—which, Jay assumed, were pretty bad, considering whatever they were talking about. "Look, we're in the Elemental Realm, and we need you to let us into your sector, otherwise we'll be stuck in the Ice Kingdom and really that's no fun. Please, Jay!"

"I'm not quite following your logic?" Jay poked Cole absentmindedly with the tip of his foot.

"TOUCH LLOYD'S FRICKING HAND!" Cole yelled from above Jay. He jumped at the thunder of his voice. "TOUCH IT, DAMN YOU!"

"If it's not too much trouble, bring Caroline with you," said a familiar voice, and Jay froze. Caroline, kneeling at his feet, responded with the quick snapping of her head upwards. Jay's heart began to pound.

"Z-Zane?"

"Yes," said the soft voice, urgently now. "Hurry, please; I don't think Lloyd and Cole can stand much more of this cold weather so under-dressed."

"T-Touch Lloyd's hand?" Caroline repeated, rising as her body trembled. Jay felt breathless. He had to be crazy, had to be _dreaming; _he'd just heard Zane's voice. Zane, who he'd watched die only a day ago…How could this be?

"His right one," said Cole. "Touch the eyeball."

"The—the _eyeball?" _Jay yanked up Lloyd's hand, revealing the image of an eyeball pressed in red ink against his skin. Caroline and Jay simultaneously sucked in a gasp. "What the hell _is _that?!" Jay cried. Real Lloyd held no reaction of Jay holding his hand, staring at the peculiar etching with a cluelessness beyond cluelessness. He was so clueless, there wasn't even a _clue _to put into _clue_lessness. Just… 'lessness.'

"AN EYEBALL!" Cole yelled.

"Touch it!" Lloyd begged.

"Hurry!" Zane added.

Jay reached his thumb forth at the same time Caroline did, their fingertips touching the marking, sending an instant shock into their bodies. Caroline and he gasped, practically shouting, as the world around them faded away into a swirling whirligig of darkness. They fell through the vortex, hurdling towards nothing; it brought forward the idea that perhaps they'd die before they got there. But then, moments later, Jay found himself spiraling hard against a freezing cold surface, his face being sucked into the man-eating monster of what felt like…_snow?_

He coughed it out of his mouth, dragging his hand down his face. He looked at the ground beneath him. _Snow! _It was actually _snow! _He gasped, pushing himself up with mysteriously black gloved hands, setting himself onto his hands and knees before being able to sit on his bent legs, glaring at the ground. Where on earth _was _he? How had he gotten here?

He looked down at himself, discovering that he was wearing some kind of ninja suit, much like his old ones. The deep cerulean was covered by a lighter shade of blue proving the electric, lightning shaped strikes running across his body. At his shoulders were pointed silver blades, extending outwards, something that could be used to some serious effect when whipping butt in a fly of Spinjitzu. Jay found his footing atop the snowy ice, dusting off his pants. He glanced around. Where was everyone?

"Caroline?"

"Jay!" She gasped from behind him. He whirled.

"ZANE!" He cried. "LLOYD!" Jay left out the black form standing beside them for various reasons. They smiled at him from a distance behind him. Caroline, wrapped in Zane's embrace, unfolded herself to beckon him to come closer, and he found himself wrapping his arms around the nindroid, startled sobs wracking his body. Zane felt real, whole as ever beneath him, returned the hug, patting his back. Zane looked _healthy. _Alive. Jay pulled back to make sure he really was looking at the nindroid.

"It's good to see you, brother," Zane said with a smile.

"Good to see _you! _You're alive!"

"No," Zane admitted honestly, but his voice held no regret. Jay felt his heart drop from the high it had held above him. "But I am here, and right now, that is all that matters."

"Here?" Caroline repeated. Flecks of snow had fallen into her auburn hair. Black eyelashes lining her eyes batted away more as they dropped from the sky. She looked around, inhaling the large, deadly lava mountain slowly, observing the dark woods beyond them, and the rocky, jagged, barren land across from them. Startled, Jay realized that each section—the sections Lloyd was talking about—represented one of the four elements. Lloyd spoke up now. Jay realized that the other four, too, had gotten their own ninja suits; Lloyd's was a golden hue. His shoulder blade protectors were designed in a way that represented the wings of a dragon. His blonde hair fell across his forehead in a shaggy manner. He pushed it out of his blue eyes.

Jay had to admit, Lloyd looked pretty badass.

"This is the Elemental Realm," he said. "The Spinjitzu Masters before us brought me here while I was sleeping. They wanted me here for some reason—I just don't know what."

Zane blinked. "They brought you here for plenty of reasons, but the largest reason is your priority. I can sense the intricacy of this situation. They sent me to guide you through this. It is imperative that you retrieve the five elemental gems and restore them to their rightful places in the Light Temple, hidden somewhere here in the Realm. Each gem is located in one of the four sectors. We must find each of them and return them to their resting places in the Light Temple before time is up."

"Uh…Time? We're being _timed?" _From behind him, Cole spoke up, his voice irritated.

Zane nodded, motioning upwards with his hands. That was the first time Jay noticed the four suns, drifting closer to a center peak just above them. It was nearly impossible to detect movement with his naked eyes, but it was obvious they were going to meet in the exact same spot pretty soon. "We have not much time left," Zane said quietly. "Once Lloyd—his body, I mean—has rested to its fullest capacity, the suns will meet, combining into one large entity above us. That is when we know you will be sent back to the real world. It is kind of like when the sun is at its highest peak at noon, or when the moon it at its fullest during midnight. We must complete our mission before they meet."

"Wait…just us?" Caroline asked softly. "You won't be coming with us?"

Zane shook his head. "I cannot. You see, this is a land specifically for the deceased Spinjitzu Masters. This is where we walk after our time has ended."

"Like Heaven?" Jay asked quietly, his throat tightening at the thought of leaving Zane.

"Not particularly," Zane murmured. "It is a Realm, not an afterlife. It is a place that allows us to still hold a form and a purpose without completely diminishing into death. I cannot leave here, for I do not have a form in the Realm outside this one."

"But we can't leave you!" protested Lloyd. He looked horrified.

Zane sighed. "This is not the time to discuss sadness. We do not have much time. Jay," he turned to the ninja of lightning expectantly, "you are the only one who can allow us into your sector."

"Uh…" Jay glanced at the dark woods. "Not those, I hope?"

"Yeah, those," Cole said. "These places are based off your emotions, dummy."

Thunder cracked across the sky above the dark forest, a thick strike of lightning attacking the ground in the middle of it. He turned, eyebrow raised haughtily at Cole, who raised his black gloved hands with his palms facing Jay, even with his shoulders.

"Sorry. My bad," he grumbled.

"_Sweet_," Jay strutted forward into the grassland, no resistance from what held the others back attacking him forcibly. There was a huge temperature difference from inside Zane's sector and his—his was _much _warmer. He grinned, wiping his icy feet against the ground, staring at his friends—and ex-friend—with the intention of drinking in their envy. Jay laughed. Behind him, the forest whistled with a deep wind coursing through its branches, making the soft noise that sounded almost like Sensei's Flute. "I guess I can be kind enough to let Lloyd in," he said.

Lloyd glanced at the ground, frowning, as he inched forward. His foot tentatively touched the grass, feeling for danger, before he smiled and walked inside. Jay patted Lloyd's arm affectionately as he said, "And you two!" while nodding at Zane and Caroline, who walked through the snow to plant their feet onto the grass. Jay turned his steely gaze on Cole.

"Oh, _come on!" _Cole threw his hands in the air. "And I suppose you're going to make me stay here, then?"

"I was planning on it," Jay said honestly. Cole glared at him.

"Are we really going to do this _now?" _Lloyd asked impatiently. "Guys, let's put this past us for just a _second _while we look for these gems! Then later you can lock each other out of all the stuff you want—just _please. _We gotta do this! For me?"

Jay gritted his teeth, grumbling through them. "Fine. Come in, Cole." Cole didn't look at him as he stepped over the line flanked by grass and snow, two seasons suddenly forced face-to-face in the middle of a Realm that Jay hadn't even known existed. He turned on his heel, blocking Cole out completely, hopefully a sign he caught meaning there was no room for Cole in _any _part of Jay's life. He started forward into the dark forest, Lloyd close at his heels, while Zane stood by his side, Caroline following closely behind. Jay didn't even bother to look back to see where Cole was. He didn't care.

"Where to now?" Jay asked, glancing around. The trees hovered like towers over them, dark with their long branches extending into one another, wrapping around each other's arms like a forever embrace. He couldn't see the sky through their thick, wicker basket-like ties.

"I do not know," Zane said. Jay turned in a gape. "I have never been here before."

"Of course not!" Jay smacked his forehead. "Well, uh, I guess…uh, that way?" He pointed randomly to a north-east direction ahead of them. "Where would this gem be? Do you know? What does it even look like?"

Instead of answering, Zane reached into his pocket, producing a pale white crystal the size of his palm. He held it out for everyone to see. Caroline reached forward to drag her elegant fingertips along its defined ridges. "Look at that!" She murmured. "It's beautiful! And cold…"

Jay rubbed his head. "Okay. So will mine look that way, too?"

"I would assume so," Zane said. He glanced around. "However, I do not have a clue what is in these woods, and we do not have much time left." He nervously glanced at the invisible sky overhead.

Jay looked around. "Then…split up!"

"We'll get lost!" Caroline objected.

"Splitting up would not be wise," Zane agreed.

"You got a better idea?" Jay looked at them.

"Yeah, actually, I do," Lloyd stepped forward, holding out his hand. He reached forward to pluck the black glove from his right hand, revealing that freaky mark of the eye on the back of his hand. Jay leaned away from it.

"Where did you get that?"

"A book."

"A…what?"

Zane answered, his omniscience extremely helpful to Jay, who was as clueless as though he'd been struck dumb by a baseball bat. "A prophetic book bequeathed it to him."

Jay stared in horror. "I still don't know what that means," he said, thinking of their time on the Island of Darkness and Misako's weird use of that word that Jay was pretty sure no one would tell the definition of to him.

Caroline opened her mouth to respond, but Cole spoke up, grabbing the Ice Gem from Zane's hand to examine it closer. "Use _context clues, _Sparky. Didn't your teacher ever teach you that in kindergarten?"

Jay couldn't bite his tongue. "Didn't common sense tell you not to sleep with your best friend's girlfriend?"

Overhead, lightning cracked across the sky.

Cole turned on him, his brows furrowed as he scowled. "You know what? Maybe I had a _reason _for doing it," Cole growled lowly.

Jay raised his chin, smirking with a roll of his green eyes. "Oh really? And what's that?"

Lloyd reached forward, trying to stop the war about to enrage between the two, but Lloyd couldn't have stopped it, even if he were the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, even if he were a police officer threatening to throw him in jail, even if he were Jay's _parents, _for crying out loud. Cole slapped the crystal into Zane's hand and turned full on to Jay, giving him the full-on force of his silver gaze, forcing Jay to actually look at him without breaking their gazes.

"Maybe I did it because I'm _in love _with her."

There was a reaction time, a few moments prepared by the future just to let that sink in. Above them, the sky darkened, allowing it to become harder and harder for Jay to see his form, but Cole's eyes were bright as flashlights, gleaming even in the darkness. If this weren't the situation, Jay would've thought that it was weird that his friend's eyes were glowing in the middle of a deep shadow, but all Lloyd could seem to care about was the fact that Cole had seriously just said what Jay thought he said, and that he was going to _punch his damn lights out._

"I don't believe you," he growled.

"No? Ask Nya!" Cole threw out his hands, stepping back. "Why do you think she came to _me _all those months ago_? _She loves me as much as I love her, and that's _way more _than you ever meant to her!"

Lightning struck a tree not far from them. There was a loud scream of protest as the oak collapsed, causing the ground to react with a sonic wave, but Jay didn't notice. He balled his hands into tight fists.

Cole bitterly grinned, continuing on in anger. "I'm _tired _of pretending I don't. I've been in love with her since the day she became possessed by Garmadon's evil pus goo and we had to fight her while she distracted us! That was the day I realized I could love no one _more _than I love her, and not to long after the Overlord was defeated, _I kissed her." _Jay gasped. "Yeah, _that's right. _I _kissed _her. While you were dating. And you know what? She kissed me back, and she _liked it." _

"You…are going…to _die." _Jay spat through his teeth. He meant it.

"You know what else? Which you obviously _never _knew before I say it now, but I've been dating her _behind your_ _effing back _for a year now. And she was even talking about running away with me so we could get married and start a life, once we got back to Ninjago City. She doesn't _want _you anymore! She hasn't for a _long time now. _And this baby?" Cole raised his chin. "It's been mine _all along. _Never yours. And it never will be. She doesn't _want _you. She wants _me. _And with you out of the picture, we can finally have a normal, _happy freaking life without you!"_

Lightning flew from the sky, aimed right for Cole, but he saw it coming. His reaction allowed him to quickly dodge it, finding himself in an instant standing on the branch of the nearest tree, crouching above Jay while he glared at him through his silver glowing eyes. Jay let out a howl and threw the hardest, most violent strike of lightning he could muster from his fingertips directly at him, aiming right for his head. Jay was so angry, he wanted to tear out Cole's throat, rip out his heart and step all over it as Cole had already done to him. He wanted to beat the crap out of him. He wanted to shatter every bone in his body, break every last little fibula, tibia, rib, joint, and tooth until it was absolutely-freaking-nothing. He was in a rage he'd never felt before—and it was obvious in the way the sky went black with clouds overhead, striking lightning every which way, thunder cracking across the clouds constantly. Caroline screamed as two feet from her, a tree collapsed. Lloyd shoved her aside as a branch collapsed. Jay aimed every lightning strike he could at Cole's too-fast body (had he always moved that fast? Jay could barely see him moving) with the intent to kill him on-spot. He struck another tree. Zane and Caroline dodged it.

"What, too weak to catch me? You always were a loser!" Cole taunted from above him. Jay shrieked and flung lightning at him. After it fell, the tree caught fire.

"JAY! Don't forget why we're here! Let's move on and get the Lightning Gem! Jay _please!" _Lloyd shouted from behind him, but Jay ignored him, electrocuting the branch where Cole stood in a nearby tree. The wind picked up hard, knocking the intertwined branches against each other, practically blowing Lloyd, Caroline, and Zane off their feet. Jay focused on the gleaming eyes in the dark as Cole shouted claims of eternal love at him. He started off in a different direction, leaping from branches lithely, quickly, invisibly. Jay ran after him. _"YOU'RE"—_he screamed an infinitely awful curse—"_DEAD, COLE!" _

"You'll never catch me, you're too slow!" Cole shouted over the wind. His voice carried to Jay as he abandoned the others to weave his way through the woods, forcing the winds to knock trees over and electrifying everything he thought he saw movement in, scaring away little tree creatures that lingered in their homes. Fire was set to every tree he zapped, torching them into burning, large flames that caught onto each other second by second. Their tight-knit closeness was now something the trees must've regretted as Jay chased Cole's inhumanly fast form and glowing silver eyes in the dark with the first-ever burning, true intent to kill, and the idea that he wouldn't stop until Cole's body rested beneath his freaking feet.

**LLOYD**

"We have to let them go!" shouted Zane, holding his hands over his eyes to stop any flying mass from the forest, practically caught in a tornado, from hitting his face. Thunder cracked dangerously above their heads. "We have to find the Lightning Gem before it's too late!"

A tree, a large torch hanging over them, began to tip over them. Lloyd used one hand to force Zane back while wrapping his other arm around Caroline's waist, yanking her deeper into the woods with them. "RUN!" He yelled as the flames followed them, licking up every nearby tree, spreading quickly as though someone hit fast-forward. They ran as fast as their legs would take them, stumbling across the dark ground. Lloyd could barely see Caroline running ahead of him. She reached back to grab his hand, making sure he was still there, pulling him closer. Above, thunder cracked, and lightning stabbed the ground just feet away from them. Caroline shrieked. Zane threw ice towards the flaming ring about to encircle them, holding it off for a moment, but the fire was just as intense as the mirage Lloyd had experienced aboard the _Bounty 2. _He grabbed Caroline and pointed towards their left. "Zane!" he shouted to get the nindroid's attention. Zane turned. "Come on!"

After throwing one last round, Zane ran ahead of Lloyd into the darkness. The fire continued to follow them, speeding up as it gained momentum by consuming everything in its path. "How can fire be here if this is Jay's elemental section?" Caroline shouted. A bad time to ask questions, but no one could answer, breathing hard against the smoke and from running. Zane grabbed her hand, pushing her to their right. Lloyd threw shards of ice at the fire roaring behind them. He felt its intense burn immediately as it screamed at him, threatening as it crawled up the trees, causing flaming branches to practically fall over him. "Lloyd!" called Zane. Lloyd turned to run after them. There was a large, loud, deafening crack in front of them.

Caroline screamed, suddenly stopping over something, waving her arms wildly. Lloyd and Zane skidded to a halt at their side. Lloyd grabbed the back of her shirt to stop her from falling into the deep canyon extending into darkness in front of him, a giant hole he could never clear in just one jump. He turned, wildly trying to find a way out as the fire got closer. There was another loud, long crack, followed by the sound of an enraged scream from somewhere beyond where they stood, something Lloyd could assume was Cole cracking a huge divot into the ground and Jay throwing a fit over it. To think, all of this over Nya, who Lloyd didn't think was so great anyway. He grabbed Caroline's hand and tugged her to the side, pulling her to the right, deeper into the woods along the edge of the crack in the earth Cole had created. As he ran, he caught the glimpse of a huge wad of lightning striking violently against the ground in the distance. Behind him, Caroline gasped. There wasn't much time left, and they were wasting it running from disasters his own brothers had caused…

"Stop!" Caroline yelled, and she whirled. "There's something here! In the trees!"

"We don't have time to hover!" Zane put an urgent hand against her back. "Caroline, you need to run!"

"But wait!" She protested, her eyes shifting every which way as she tried to glimpse whatever it was that she'd seen in the first place, but Lloyd couldn't wait any longer. He pulled on her hand. "No!" She planted her feet, even though it was easy to glimpse the impending doom of fire only a hundred feet away, beginning for them with the intent to kill. Lloyd tugged harder, but she'd become a deadweight, unmovable from the position she stood in.

"Caroline! We need to go!" Lloyd grabbed her waist, yanking her backwards. He'd just gotten her to move when she flailed her arms, giving out a cry, and pointing to something in the trees, a small white form that this time, Lloyd saw, too. "THERE IT IS!" She cried, wrenching herself free. "I see it!"

"What's so cool about it?" Lloyd gasped as it cackled and ran above them, a quick, white little thing in the dark.

Then, he caught the faint glimpse of the gleaming blue.

"It has the Gem!" Caroline cried, taking off after its distancing form. Zane called after her and ran, weaving his way through the trees. Lloyd struggled to keep his footing and a close eye on Zane's fading white form. He could see the small white thing swinging from tree to tree like an obnoxious primate, but he didn't know if there was any way to keep up.

**CAROLINE**

"Have, have, have!" cackled the strange creature as it ran above her, swiftly and nimbly making its way through the trees as it sang a funny-tuned song. "I have, I have, I have! Oh yes, I do, I have! I have the pretty thing I do! Have, have I do!" It laughed at its clever tune. With her legs pumping as quickly as she could make them run, Caroline found her footing almost failing her more than once, catching on the stubborn branch of a fallen tree or a rock as the storm raged beyond her. Caroline whisked away her hair from her face as it stubbornly caught in her mouth between her lips. She couldn't stop; if she did, she'd lose sight of the thing as it moved faster and faster through the trees.

"I keep, I will, be safe! No more hurt I have! Have the pretty shiny I do! Oh, yes, oh, yes, I do! Ha ha!" It screeched. "Little but pretty and blue! I have I have I _do!" _

"Stop!" Caroline shouted, and the thing paused to glance back at her. It looked like a white, demonic little thing, with pointy elvish ears sticking out its head; it gasped, turning its head so a long snout could be defined. It screamed.

"OH NO!" It shouted in a high pitched wail. "They found me! But, oh, I must not let them have it; have it for _me! _Not you! ROBBER!" The thing took off swinging faster this time. _Way to go Caroline! _She thought, and pushed her legs harder. She couldn't let it get away, not this time, not after all the crap she'd just gone through to see it by chance. Caroline bent momentarily to pick up a rock. Then, with every ounce of strength she could muster, she hurled it towards the small thing, crossing her fingers that she'd calculated correctly and it would smack the creature just as it reached the spot she'd aimed for. A moment later, there was a horrified wail as the rock collided with the creatures head, forcing it to fall onto the ground with a loud, wet smack. Triumphantly, she ran for it as it tried to pick itself up, to understand what had just happened.

"Oh, my face, pretty faces it hurts!" cried the elf. It rubbed its snout. "My face, poor face! And, and my blue rock, it is—WHERE IS IT?!" shrieked the little thing, feeling the ground for the blue stone. It yowled as it lost it, trying to find it, big, wide black eyes taking in everything but seeing nothing. Caroline hid behind the tree with her heart pounding in her chest. She clutched it in her hand, motioning for Zane and Lloyd, stopped few feet away, to freeze in their tracks and watch the little creature fit over its lost rock. She barely had time to glance at her little stone before the elf beyond her hiding place cried out, "I CAN SMELL YOU! I KNOW YOU ARE THERE! AND I WILL FIND YOU! FIND YOU I WILL AND TASTE YOUR BLOOD—oh, I can taste your flesh now! Pretty, beautiful thing I know you _hide from me!" _

Caroline gasped inaudibly. A moment of silence and scuffling followed suit before she sensed the little thing was moving—but to where she'd never be able to tell. Then, she had barely glanced up at Zane in the distance before he made a warning sign, a sign she'd found too late.

"I FOUND YOU!" screamed the elf thing at her feet, grabbing at her wrists and ankles with bony, skeletal hands. Caroline shrieked as it clambered up her form; she barely had enough reaction time to be able to throw the stone to Zane. He caught it in his hand when the elf turned to face him, its snout wrinkling with anger, baring its pointy fangs. Its claws dug into Caroline's skin, and she held still as it launched itself off her to dive for Zane as it shouted, "MIINNNEEE!"

Zane tossed it to Lloyd as soon as the creature grabbed him. Lloyd, set a distance away, took off running with it, disappearing into the woods. It wasn't wise, but what choice did he have? Caroline glanced at Zane as the creature took off after Lloyd. With a simultaneous agreement, they bolted after it. In the distance, Caroline was vaguely aware of a sound like the crack of thunder, edging closer to them as Jay and Cole continued their epic battle for love that seemed _totally _unnecessary at the moment. Caroline picked up her speed as she and Zane wove through the trees in search of the little elf and Lloyd.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!" shrieked the tiny voice, and Caroline froze. Were they too late?

She caught sight of them not ten feet away as it clutched at Lloyd's ankle. "YOU CANNOT RUN!" it yowled. Then Lloyd snapped his fingers, causing an eruption of flame to tackle the little creature. It screeched and rolled against the ground, in flames. "NO! YOU—CAN'T—TAKE—MY—MY—ROCKY!" But Lloyd didn't listen, instead taking the chance to look up definably at Caroline and Zane, just arriving into the scene, practically winded.

"We have to get to the Fire Section!" He called, turning on his heel.

"How? Kai isn't here to let us in!" Caroline yelled back.

"We have to get there anyway!" Lloyd said. "This place is gonna explode if we wait here any longer!"

As though on cue, there was another massive eruption from somewhere beyond them. Lloyd quickly grabbed onto her hand as they left the Stone's Keeper rolling on the ground in flames, screeching like its life depended on it. She grabbed a tight hold of Zane's hand. There wasn't much time now. They were running out of time…

**LLOYD**

They reached the edge of Jay's Section, the instant drop of from grass to a charred, barren red land, scorched infinitely by a fire so gruesome it had stopped all wildlife from ever growing back. Lloyd skidded to a halt, though it was unnecessary to even try; he bounced off of the protective shield blocking him from ever entering Kai's sector like a ball bounced off of a wall. He landed in a heap on the ground, but didn't loosen his tight grip on the Lightning Gem, instead clutching it tightly in his fingers. He looked at the peak point. They only had minutes now before the suns would unite and Lloyd would wake up, bringing them back to the real realm, abandoning the gems in the sectors and stopping Lloyd from ever unlocking whatever it was that was so imperative he find in the Light Temple. He pounded his fist against the invisible boundary hoping that it somehow hurt Kai. "Why would they send me here if they knew I couldn't get in?!" Lloyd cried, frustrated, as tension built on his shoulders from the timed mission.

"They wouldn't have. There must be a way!" Zane said, glancing nervously behind him. "I sense the Stone Keeper is coming for us—we must find a way in immediately! It won't be pretty once it arrives. It went easy on us back there. Now it will be vilely _vicious." _Zane patted the shield again, his hand pressing against air. Lloyd used his Spinjitzu against it, every elemental technique of attack he could muster, and even good old fashioned whacking-it-with-a-stick, but it seemed impossible to be able to break it. He gave a cry of impatience.

In the distance, lightning struck again.

"We won't make it!" cried Caroline. "Zane, what do we do? How do we get in?"

"KAI!" shouted Lloyd. "KAI! LET US IN!" It was a hopeless attempt, but it was worth a shot, considering the fact that they were doomed beyond everything ever created. He felt hopelessly blind, walking into a floor of booby traps with a rag tied tightly over his eyes. He'd never find his way through this. He might as well just have gone home right then and there; he could _never _get inside. He turned his back on the lava-induced mountain, facing Zane and Caroline, hanging his head uselessly. "Ugh. Stupid. This wouldn't even be _happening _if—"

"Lloyd?"

Lloyd whirled, gasping. _It doesn't make sense, _he thought for a moment, facing the opposite direction, before he almost gave out his knees with a shock so damning he could've fallen back asleep, it drained him so quickly.

"Kai?"

"What are you doing here?" the red ninja inched forward cautiously, clad in a similar outfit as the ones every other ninja had. His eyes weren't the emerald green burning intensely through the cut in his mask as they would have if Kai were looking at them in the real world. Instead, he yanked off his mask, letting his spiky hair release from it. He didn't grin evilly at them. He didn't laugh. He didn't make a snide comment. Instead, he walked forward so he was face to face with the others, frowning in confusion.

"That's a better question for you," Lloyd growled, unsure of how to approach this. Obviously, this had to be Kai, damned into darkness by him and his stupid intent of destroying the ninja. Lloyd clenched his fists in anger. For once, couldn't he go without Kai? Just once? Obviously he was here to destroy _something _good about this whole thing…

Zane was silently staring in shock at his side, but Lloyd was too angry to notice.

"I'm stuck here," Kai said, his boots scuffing up red dust from its hard rock beneath his feet. Lloyd blinked.

"Sure you are."

"No," Zane intervened, holding out his arm before Lloyd, stopping him from unleashing a hurl of power at the forsaken betrayer. Lloyd stared at the ice ninja, startled. "That is not who you think it is."

"Sure it's not," Lloyd agreed. "It's Kai, and I'm going to kill him."

"No!" Zane groaned impatiently. "You're not understanding. That _is _Kai, but it is not the dark Kai we know now. That is…the _real _Kai."

"How can you be so sure?" Lloyd asked cautiously. He trusted Zane, but he wondered if his "senses" were misleading him.

"Because no outside evil can cross over into the Elemental Realm," Zane explained. "The past Spinjitzu Masters protect this place. It is a safe haven, a sanctuary, a place of peace. It cannot be done to bring outside evils in."

Lloyd thought about it, processing what the ninja had just said. He looked at Kai with a cautious eye. He seemed legitimate enough, standing there in his ninja suit, brown eyes honestly a little confused as he glanced back and forth between them. He rubbed his neck while he waited for Lloyd to draw a conclusion, but there was only questions coming out of the green ninja, questions he hoped that Zane could answer.

"How is that possible? There's only one Kai," Lloyd countered. "And that's the evil guy who keeps trying to kill us."

Kai's eyes widened. "Kill you?"

"How is he here? Why's he 'stuck'? What's he here for? Zane, there are too many questions I'm just not getting answers to…" Lloyd turned to his trustworthy nindroid friend, but Zane only stared straight ahead, a melancholy wisdom over his face. "It would be nice if you could share some of that knowledge with the world," Lloyd added. "I'm lost."

"Me too," Kai agreed, glancing over Lloyd's head. "What's going on over there?"

"Catfight," answered Caroline, and Kai's brows furrowed deeper, his mouth turning downwards into a half-frown. He looked clueless.

"Care to explain?" He jammed his thumb in Caroline's direction. "Who's she?"

"Caroline!" She answered.

Lloyd stared at Zane. "Talk."

Zane looked unsure of himself for once. "The only way this could ever work—oh, the equation just isn't making sense in my mind—is that he is Kai, but the one we know is not. Meaning, the one in the other realm."

Lloyd pursed his lips. "So how would Kai—if that's the real him—be here? Did the Spinjitzu Masters send him in to get the Gems too? Where's he being held captive?"

Kai rubbed his neck harder. Lloyd didn't know whether to be happy that maybe what he was seeing was the _real _Kai or if he should still be wary of what little information he was presented with. "Listen, kid, there's a lot you don't know," he murmured. "I've made some pretty bad choices lately."

"Haven't we all," muttered Lloyd.

Kai continued. "I'm just going to come out and say it because you know I hate sugar coating things but…Guys, I'm _dead. _And the guy you know—the demon that you guys are talking about—is…_partially _me. He's using my energy and part of my soul to harness a darkness. He wants to let out every hellraising creature there is in the Underworld. I didn't _want _this to happen," Kai looked desperately to Zane. "I tried to get away from them, but Pythor popped out of nowhere, gagged me, and that evil dude stabbed me. I never wanted this to happen, Zane. Never. And I need you to understand that," he begged.

Lloyd was still processing the words "I'm dead." He felt his insides numb slowly, quietly as he looked to Kai, honestly pleading with him, reaching for him but feeling his hands meet the invisible force field between them. Kai's gloves connected with the glass-like shield. "Lloyd, he took my place so he can try and kill you," Kai said. Lloyd watched, startled. "I know about our destiny. I know we're supposed to slaughter each other until only one of us stands. But you have to realize you _can't fight him. _He'll win, and he'll take you over and use every last ounce of your dead body's energy to create a weapon so powerful, it will turn the whole world into a double of what hell looks like—only worse. You have to listen to me! You need to take those Gems to the Light Temple and you _need _to put them in their resting places. Quickly! How many do you have?"

"Two," Lloyd said numbly, distantly. He felt detached, his mind reeling.

"Then here's three." Kai pulled a deep burgundy stone from his pocket, producing it into the palm of his hand. It shone brilliantly beneath the light of the four suns. "Get in here, all of you. Volhm's coming and he'll tear you to pieces if you stand there any longer." Lloyd grabbed Caroline's hand and slowly pulled her into the fire sector, feeling like he was walking through water: slowly, unsteadily, without the ability to fully move at a fast pace. Kai set the rock into the palm of Lloyd's hand, meeting Lloyd's blue eyes with his dark ones. "You need to get that last stone. The Light Temple is below the meeting place of the Four Suns." Kai glanced at the suns, edging closer now, pretty much ten minutes away from colliding and ending this. He looked back to Lloyd urgently. "I can take you as far as the Tundra. I can't go any further than that."

"But Cole didn't invite us in!" Caroline cried. "He's still back there with Jay!"

Kai didn't press. Instead, Lloyd responded, curling his fingers around the stones perched neatly in the perfect curves of his palms, as though they were meant to be there. "No, but he let me," Lloyd answered. "When we first got there, he told me we could go to the Tundra, where it would be warmer. Only I can go. You guys need to get to the Temple and meet me there with the Gems." Lloyd held them out for Caroline to take. Zane rubbed his forehead.

"I'll guide you," Kai said.

"No!" Lloyd numbly murmured. "You need to take them to the Temple."

"Doesn't seem too hard to find," Caroline said, accompanied by Zane's nod. "Kai, take Lloyd to the Tundra, then meet us at the Temple; but hurry! Time is wasting!"

Kai nodded, putting a hand on Lloyd's shoulder and urging him forward. "Beware the dragon," Kai said. "He's got a nasty bite." Zane nodded, and together, he and Caroline disappeared into the scorched underbrush of the dry land.

"Dragon. Seriously?" Lloyd said after a while of following Kai through the maze of blackened plants, his mind still whirling. Kai nodded ahead of him.

"It guarded the Gem until I came along," Kai said. "Each Gem has a Keeper that protects it."

"How'd you get it, then?"

"You'd be surprised how well a dragon bargains," Kai said honestly, whacking aside a thick clump of brush. It snapped uselessly beneath the swipe of his foot, tackling it with a force of steel. Lloyd managed to keep a foggy mind for another twelve minutes, lost in his own realm of his mind, a dark place. _Kai. Dead. _Those two words seemed not to make sense to him, and yet, neither did any of this anyway.

He rubbed his hands across his eyes. Kai wrapped a comforting arm over his shoulder. "It's okay, kiddo," he said, ruffling Lloyd's hair, ignoring the dirt pressed across the green ninja's cheeks. It was a gesture that reminded him of the phrase, _For old time's sake,_ and made him want to cry and jump with joy at the same time. So it meant Kai wasn't dastardly or evil as the demon possessing the other Kai above, who was intent on destroying Kai completely. But at the same time, the alternative was no better: Kai was gone, banished to this world just as Zane was. It was a relief and yet a pain to think that it had come to this.

"I'm sorry, Kai," Lloyd said, hanging his head. "Sorry I couldn't protect you."

"It's not your fault." Kai glanced at the red sky, wary of the rising suns. "We'll get past this. Somehow."

"Why? How?" Lloyd asked suddenly. "How can you be _dead?" _

"Because I'm an idiot," Kai gave a humorless chuckle.

Lloyd opened his mouth, but he didn't have the time to respond; from behind them, he watched as there was a loud crack of thunder across the sky, which resulted in a bright-burning deadly ray of green erupting from Jay's sector. Lloyd froze, horrified, as he watched the ray shine forward into the sky with a light so intense, Lloyd could've figured it matched his own Spinjitzu Master Light. However, he didn't have time to react, really, because it was followed by a loud, guttural scream, the cry of someone startled and hurt. He gasped, calling out as he didn't know what else to do; something terrible had happened that he hadn't been able to prevent. "It's Cole!" he gasped suddenly. "Jay killed him! Or really hurt him. Oh, _LORD, _please _no! _Please don't be dead!"

"Why would Jay kill him?" Kai asked, confused.

"Cole slept with Nya and Jay's mad about it, so Jay was going to kill him and he started a war inside his sector, and—"

"Wait a second, did you say _Cole _slept with my _sister?" _

Now, _that _sounded like Kai. Lloyd gave him a look at told him yes, yes he _did _say that happened, but it was too late for anything to happen. From beyond the volcano threatening eruption behind them, there was a loud, animal-like screech that shook the ground beneath their feet. Cracks skidded across the ground as there was an awakening so fearful, Lloyd could feel it jitter in his bones.

Kai stared at the volcano, mortified. "Oh, no," he groaned. "I think our day just got worse."

"Why?" Lloyd asked.

The large shadow crept over the side of the volcano, bigger than anything Lloyd had ever seen. His eyes widened. Kai took a fleetingly horrified step backwards. There was another loud screech tearing at Lloyd's assaulted eardrums. "Because Sleeping Beauty's awake, and she's not going to be happy!"

**Yaayy, Kai. :D Awww, evil dragon. And don't worry. Cole's not dead. I couldn't do that. But there is some SERIOUS relationshippy drama going on there! Whew! Is it bad I had fun writing about Jay trying to kill Cole? O.o**

**WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? Find out tomorrow! (My tomorrow, anyway. :) GO have an awesome day/night, shout green at your vegetables, and stay away from potentially poisonous spiders as they may have been attacked by a devourer and could possibly kill you. :D**

**(PS—next chappie about Kai's double in the real realm? I'm sure you guys wanna know what's going on with the Evil Villains Uniting Club (or the EVUC) and the strong Misako! What will she do next?! Juggle fourteen scrolls while kicking butt? I DUNNO…She's unpredictably wickedly ninja like that. :3) **


	15. Chapter 14: THE TEMPLES

**READ BELOW!**

**CHECK OUT MY NIGHTMARES FOR A NINJA COLLECTION ON DEVIANTART! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SEARCH FOR MY PENNAME, "KAIRIVENOMUS" AND YOU'LL FIND ME INSTANTLY! YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK OUT THE PROMOS FOR THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER INTO THIS CHAPTER, SO YOU CAN GET A LITTLE INSIGHT ON SOME OF THE FUTURE EVENTS FOR THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT! Can't view DeviantArt? That's alright, you'll be fine if you don't, it's just always nice to have batteries for your flashlight when you go walking into the dark. :3**

**Now. EPIC CHAPTER! X3 Can't wait for you to read it!**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_14. The Temples_

"UNHAND ME!" MISAKO KICKED WITH all her might against the grasp of the long-necked, violently fierce snake, her arms clasped in a tightening crunch in the rope against her back, a chaining in which Pythor watched, amused. His black claws tightened around her shoulders as he forced her into a head dive for the dirt at the stumpy base of the arched, darkhanded welcoming of the cemetery's gate, wrought iron focal looming threateningly over her. Misako raised her blue eyes from the dirt while she looked for her glasses. _Where have they gone?! _She thought wildly, swiveling around to look for them as they had flown from their designated spot on her face. She'd never be able to know what was who and who was what if she couldn't see them properly.

From behind her, she felt the weight of a very pointy, very metal staff clutch the fine spot between her shoulder blades. Grunting, Misako's face cracked against the dirt again, forcing her below the surface as it clung to her tongue like the sand's last hope. "You foolish woman!" screamed the ringleader, Eloquim, from beneath that mask of his. The ground rumbled again as the Devourer traveled closer to their destination, this closed off cemetery that hardly any soul inhabited anymore; and who did still exist in such a confined space lived in the desolate peace of the rocky homes jutting from between graves inside. Frighteningly enough, this ground that they were forcing her to eat had been rotted by thousands and thousands of years of dead human beings, once sacred, ghosts twice shy. Misako lifted her fallen body from the ground with all her upper body strength as they laughed above her like the puny, imbecilic men they were. She shook the dirt from her hair and tried her hardest to feel strong when the only thing she could feel now was regret.

Oh, it was no secret that Kai would slaughter her the second he was done with her; that much was completely obvious. It was something no one would do. After all, he was now completely drenched in wretched, dastardly evil, and no villain as cruel as he was would allow her to walk away with more than a pinky finger's last skin cell. This wasn't a quick exchange of information. This was manipulation and manslaughter as the only element it existed in, a foreign death so accusing Misako wouldn't dream of asking any lesser sentence. She couldn't try for a plea bargain this time. It would be over soon.

And she would die knowing she failed as a mother to Lloyd.

She hoped that Garmadon would be able to look past what Lloyd had done quickly after her death. She hoped Lloyd would reach out to his father despite the dispute on the issue of Father Murder Attempt Gone Wrong that seemed to soil her family. In a way, Misako knew why this was, why Lloyd involuntarily acted as an irrational thinker rather than the calm, think-it-through doer he usually was. It was his destiny as the Green Ninja to fight Garmadon overthrowing his sense of right and wrong as it came to be. He felt the need to _complete _it to rid himself of the nagging voice in his head shoe-lacing him to the cold metal table of destiny. Poor boy he was, and he didn't even understand himself truly as he could. It took her all the way until now, the journey's end, to realize it.

"Now, let's not wreck her before I'm done with her," snapped Kai from behind. She saw his grim face out the corner of her eye as he roughly grabbed her, forcing her to her feet beside him, her white shirt untucked and destroyed by the dirt beneath them as it grumbled again with the Devourer's arrival. "Xunis will be here soon and I'd rather _not _be hanging around when he does come."

"Why? You scared?" Kruncha asked, earning himself a cackle from Nuckal and a glare from Kai. His headdress burned a brighter flame with agitation while he glared into the soulless green eyes of the Skullkin second-in-command. He bore his teeth in a way that told the skeletal being that he'd _better _not throw a laugh to him again, or there would be serious hell to pay.

Misako was fascinated by Kai's ultimate persona transformation. It seemed like the effects were immediate after the battle lines drew in chalk against the hard black ground beneath them only a day ago. Why, if she were silly, she would've made the comparison that he seemed just as Garmadon had, once upon a time. He had the authoritive posture, the booming, threatening voice of a leader, the snarl of anger constantly painted against his full pink lips. Kai scowled at Samokai, who recoiled to a safer place behind Pythor, tapping his fingers together as his bones rattled.

Samokai smacked Kruncha on the back of his head. "You idiot! You don't speak to Prince Kai like that! You do know he could kill you right now if he wanted to, right?"

Kai turned to Misako, pulling her roughly against him. Even though he was younger than she, he stood a head taller than her, glaring over her tangled gray hair at the Skullkins. "And _you _better keep a closer eye on your stupid little minions," he snapped. "Or next time, there won't be a _you _to refer to."

Samokai nodded enthusiastically as Kai pushed Misako towards the gate, shoving her closer to the doom she would soon meet. Just beyond the intricate markings bent and forged into the metal of the gate she didn't have time to investigate further, she glimpsed miles and miles of hilly, dark grass pleated with row after row of similar grey headstones, all warning there was the body of one beneath the surface. Then, in the distance, she caught sight of the tall temple, rising high over the mountains, painted a deep, very black shade of ebony. It was a landmark Misako had only ever the privilege to read about in her scrolls and old, coppery smelling books in the library at the university she'd once taught at. She had never had the chance to visit the Temple of Forgotten Warriors before, but now, from the perspective of a philosopher, she was both awed and afraid as she saw it.

Kai tapped on the iron gate, a sign beside it etched with the words "MAOLO TOWN: _BEWARE OF WANDERING SPIRITS! ENTER AT OWN RISK!" _She swallowed her fear as she watched Kai hold out the palm of his hand before yanking away the thick black glove, revealing a hand made of orange, molten lava. She forced the gasp back down her throat as she watched him draw, into the square plate waiting patiently for him in the middle of it, the peculiar image of an eye. Misako was intrigued. _I've seen that somewhere before, _she thought, but then the gate gave a responding groan of acceptance. It began to slowly open with the help of an unseen force, a magic that not even she could understand. Kai backed away, replacing his glove to his hand, but not before the imperfect moment she glimpsed a similar rune carved into the back of his hand in black, overshadowing the molten lava beneath. She could examine it no longer when he tugged the glove down.

Violently, Kai shoved her shoulder, pushing her from her reverie. "_Go," _he growled rudely. Misako held her head high as she marched into the cemetery, her feet crunching across the ground as in the distance, there was a mighty roar above the surface of the ground.

Misako didn't stop to glance at the headstones, as much as she sickly could've liked to. The names and dates encrusting the headstones often fascinated her with a martyr-like situation, with her inability to glance away and somehow discover their lives just by reading their name on a rock. She managed to bypass the first hill of them with Kai on her heels and Eloquim's deadly staff pointed on her neck without falling a stumble across the ground where she could've eaten more dirt. The sky darkened angrily above them as though it were going to rain, but Misako didn't see the sense in that.

More than once she heard the sound of Pythor's tail smacking a headstone. "Why aren't they spaced evenly apart?" He hissed angrily. Misako shivered at the lisp of his tongue against his lips.

"Oo, oo!" Nuckal cried. "Maybe because there's a lot of dead people!"

"No, you think?" Kai said sarcastically. "I thought it was because they liked tripping us."

There was a sharp inhalation. "Really?!" Nuckal cried. "So, that means they _knew _we were coming? They're trying to sabotage us!"

_Clunk _went the sound of bone on bone. "You idiot!" growled Kruncha's low voice. "It's star-casm!"

"Starcasm?" repeated Nuckal. Misako kept her eyes ahead but could visualize the physical bickering perfectly as though she had eyes in the back of her head. "What is, 'starcasm'? Is it in space?"

"You fools!" Pythor hissed irritably. "It's _sar_casm!"

A triumphant laugh came from Nuckal. "You were wrong! _Haha!" _

"Shut up!"

"Me being quiet doesn't effect the fact that you were wrong!"

"I am not a dictionary!"

"WILL YOU DROP IT?!" howled Eloquim, whirling to glare from beneath his hood with the eclipsing glowing eyes.

Misako, meanwhile, smirked to herself. It appeared they couldn't handle each other in one spot more than Lloyd could ever stand being within two feet of clowns. It was a weakness beneath the strongheld façade they tempted themselves with as if it were actually possible. If only the ninja could know that they were no tighter knit together than they could've thought they were, they could use it to their advantage, take it under their wing to nurture the weakness—but not back to health. No, they could use it to destroy the band of misfit villains to better their chances of winning.

Misako muttered under her breath, "Great army you've got here."

The Temple gleamed in the distance. A beckoning from beyond, a piece of time she'd be allowed to touch. It made her sick to be able to touch it, to stand it, for all the wrong reasons. She'd wanted to come here to relinquish the amazing feeling of being a philosopher and seeing one of the many temples that had survived the Reckoning all those years ago; yet she couldn't seem to shake the excited feeling bubbling within her. The butterflies danced consistently as they came closer.

Or maybe that was just nerves…

**JAY**

_Wham. _

His cheek stung from the punch, but he quickly regained his footing, landing a cut across Cole's arm with the best of his abilities wielding the broken piece of wood, stabbing his skin with the pointed end. In addition, he commanded a bolt of lightning to strike the ground precisely behind the earth-based ninja, forcing him to take a leap forward right into Jay's fist. Cole yowled in anger as he clutched at his bleeding nose, gushing down his face, liters lost in the angry battle they'd started what Jay was pretty sure extending well past a half-hour. The objective he'd had in his mind to begin with was the last of his concerns as his inner utilities focused on one thing, and one thing only: killing Cole.

Cole flung his foot outward, catching Jay in the chest. As the ninja recoiled, his breath suddenly gone, Cole was instantly at his side, knocking him down and removing the pointed weapon from Jay's sweaty, determined grip in just a couple of mellow seconds. He was moving faster than Jay had ever seen him move before. It seemed Cole had been holding back on them.

Holding the stake high above Jay, straddling him with both hips, he brought the wooden natural weapon down, aiming straight for Jay's heart. Jay quickly electrocuted Cole's stomach before the pointed end had the sickening chance to penetrate his skin, buying him another second in life as Cole fell backwards. Jay used his feet and knees to kick upwards, sending Cole's head snapping back up in a painfully quick motion, enough time for Jay to swipe the wooden stake from his hands. He leapt to his feet, kicking Cole's side with the sweetly satisfying sound of a bone snapping. Cole cried out in pain loudly as Jay electrocuted him again, his vengeance the only piece of him he cared about. He could barely think past his uncharacteristic rage. Taking the wooden dowel, he aimed it at Cole's face, prepared to let him be tortured the way Jay had been, digging the end deep into his cheek as he stabbed him. Cole wailed. He also flung out his leg, catching Jay off guard. Jay cried out as he fell backwards, landing hard on his butt.

Cole pounced animallistically onto him, digging his claws into Jay's chest, grabbing a handful of Jay's random ninja suit. He used his other hand to punch Jay in the face.

Jay weaseled his legs underneath Cole, shoving hard against him. Cole was thrown back into the air, but saved his soul with a backwards flip, his feet landing gently against the ground. Jay made for him, only to realize something as he ran: the cut he'd just shorn into Cole's face was gone as though it were never there, the only reminder the dab of blood left. And didn't he just break a rib? If Jay had broken a rib, he certainly wouldn't be moving as quickly as Cole was, darting to the side in a literal _blur _as Jay fell to his knees where the ninja _had _been two seconds ago. Jay ate the dirt when Cole kicked him down, using his hands to shove Jay's face to the ground. Coughing, Jay elbowed him as hard as he could manage. Then, when there was an inch of slack, he had the faint premonition that Cole wasn't trying to kill him. He wasn't bringing his A game. _Idiot, _Jay thought, slipping out from beneath the heavy brutus form of Cole, grabbing the dowel from its discardment beside him. As Cole jumped back to his feet, bouncing back quickly, Jay swung his leg in a wide arc that Cole intentionally dodged, grabbing onto Jay's ankle hard and swinging him into a large circle. With blood rushing to his head, Jay waited for the moment Cole let go of him, unleashing a whirligig of Spinjitzu to propel him back into the game. Cole stepped back barely in time before the blue tornado unleashed Jay, wielding the wooden stake, pointy end outwards, to Cole. There was a second when their eyes met in slow motion just before the landing and the wooden stake drove its tip deep, deep into Cole's chest.

Cole gave a breathless gasp as Jay stepped back, groping the hilt madly but unable to actually grab it. He stared in shock, grabbing at the air, until he fell to his knees at Jay's feet. Jay grinned triumphantly. "That'll teach you to screw my girlfriend next time," he spat on Cole's head, slicking the midnight black with his saliva. Cole groaned, beneath his breath mumbling something Jay couldn't hear. He frowned, readjusting his gloves. "What did you say?"

Cole raised his head, glaring at Jay with those creepy, glowing silver eyes of his. "I said," he spat, "you _missed."_

A second later, Jay was thrown against a nearby tree. _How did he do that so fast?! _He barely thought as he pushed himself up, coughing from the impact. There was no time for him to think further. Cole plucked him up by the collar, using his hand to force Jay back against the tree above him, squeezing his throat. Red stars danced in Jay's vision. Breathlessly, he groped at Cole's hand, staring fearfully into the gleaming sliver eyes, their irises like liquid metal in the darkness. He glared at Jay from under his lashes, his lip curled in disgust, hate. Jay kicked out with his legs, but he didn't catch even the smallest piece of Cole's body; he was quickly running out of air to breathe and force commands out of his brain to his body.

Cole rammed him further and harder up the tree. Jay squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't even command the lightning to hit him. "You should know better," Cole growled—literally. The animal-like sound came from deep within his throat. Jay sucked in a breath that wouldn't go down as shivers crawled up his spine like infectious spiders. "Really, you should. Didn't your mama ever teach you not to stake a vampire?"

Jay stared at him in confusion, brows furrowing. Had he heard that right? "W-what?" he choked out.

Cole grinned, showing a full row of white teeth, the awful sight of his canines extending past his lower lip. They were long, narrow, and extremely pointy; Jay's heart began to pound madly. It explained why he was so fast, so strong, and those weird eyes of his. It would explain why he seemed to hear a lot of things that no one else did, like the creaking of danger at the other end of the _Bounty _when everyone was asleep. Jay began to tremble as Cole's eyes started to literally, from the pupil out, bleed red into his irises, the silver becoming a blood red consistency of dye. Jay struggled harder as Cole's skin paled before his eyes, turning snow-white in a matter of seconds; Cole's lips turned redder. His grip tightened on Jay's throat.

"You heard me, Jaywalker," Cole snarled from behind the fangs. Jay tried to swallow. _Fangs. _"I'm a vampire. And I think you're my next victim."

"Who-was-before-me?" Jay coughed without knowing he was going to say it. Cole smiled at him, ramming him harder against the tree but bringing him down lower so his throat was visible in what little light left there was.

He looked absolutely animalistic, a predator as he hissed through his teeth, a small sound that sounded like a cat's. He leaned closer. Jay struggled, but Cole pinned him against the tree, rendering him useless as his muscles numbed. Cole grabbed a fistful of Jay's hair, shoving his head back against the tree bark with a scrape that hurt. Jay's heart thundered in his ears as Cole exposed his throat, leaning down so his lips grazed Jay's hot skin when he spoke. "You _really _don't want to know…"

**LLOYD**

"_RUUUUUUUN!" _Kai's demanding voice urgently commanded Lloyd from a distance, accompanied his quick, hefty shove against Lloyd's shoulders, forcing him to stumble into a misguided run in the direction of a barren, cracked red earth beneath him. Lloyd started running as he was told without having a clue where his trajectory path was leading, yet he believed Kai did. The real fire ninja was hard on his heels. The screech from beyond in the firelit sky echoed across the valley, bounding off the hard, torn ground and anything using it as a bridge. The beast launched itself off the side of the volcano, using its large, red wings to soar across the sky. Even thousands of feet below it, the impact of the beating wings hit Lloyd and Kai, almost forcing them to their hands and knees with its forceful winds. Lloyd yelled out as it started flying for them, roaring angrily. It sounded extremely menacing. Its wings flapped hard, kicking dust from its never-moving state on the dry earth, tornadoes of dirt born from the violation of its peace. It became that much harder for Lloyd's directional senses to fail him. He couldn't see anything. Holding his hands in front of his face, he coughed, stopping in his tracks. Unsure of what else to do, he called out for Kai.

"I'm here!" he heard the familiar voice from behind him, and a second later, he saw a bright red tornado out the corner of his eye. "It's trying to distract us! It knows I have the stone and it wants it back!"

"But you don't have it!" Lloyd responded, kicking back as he jumped into the air. A second later, the golden Spinjitzu tornado appeared around him, knocking the dust out of his eyes so he could see Kai more clearly.

"Tell that to her!" Kai pointed up at the large angry dragon, her head accompanied by two large, pointy horns. Her snout was long, rimmed with huge, pointy yellow teeth that dripped slobber by the pound as she neared them, descending, roaring with all her might. She hit the ground with a large, imperial _thump _only feet away from them. It forced an earthquake out of the ground, kicking up more dust and shaking the volcano to an angry turmoil, spitting more lava as it was disrupted. Lloyd stared at it, feeling his face fall into a downwards smile as the tempestuous shockwave smacked him and Kai to the ground. The dragon turned her humungously huge head towards them. Her big black eyes zeroed in on them instantly. She gave a cry, snout opening in a gape for the scream pouring out her throat.

Lloyd scrambled to his feet at the same instant Kai yelled, "RUN!"

The dragon spat fire into the spot they'd stood in moments before, scorching a wall of fire between them. Kai and Lloyd stopped to stare, wondering that maybe, she had created a problem for herself, but a second later she charged fearlessly through the fire. She gave a determined shout as visibly, a fireball was born in her mouth. "Duck!" He cried, just in time before it blazed over their heads.

They stood to run again, maneuvering around the pillar of fire, as the dragon pursued them, the ground shaking with every one of the four large, house-sized feet she put to the ground. Gaining quickly, Lloyd made the mistake of glancing back at her to find she was gathering another fireball in her mouth. He opened his own to warn Kai, but for some stupid reason, he had to pick this moment to trip over air (because that's just how ninja he was) and land on his face. _I tripped, _he thought, dazed, as he pushed himself up. _I tripped, and there isn't even ANYTHING HERE. _

He turned, scooting back as much as he could as the dragon came _this close _to him, gathering a wave of fire in her throat. "Kai!" He yelled helplessly, fear striking him like a sword. The image of her flames reflected in his blue eyes, a glimpse of how he would die. She stood over him now, blocking out the sun, arching her neck, preparing to blow him to pieces. Lloyd screamed, because he didn't know what else you were supposed to do when a dragon was about to kill you.

She let it rip. The fire came cascading towards him, building up into yellow-orange flaming balls as it came down towards him. Lloyd turned his head, squeezing shut his eyes, hoping it would go quickly…

"_Nooooooooo!" _Kai yelled from behind him. Lloyd looked up just in time to see him leap from the ground behind him, daring a spin into the air so he landed to stand in front of Lloyd. He just brought the air into his lungs to cry out Kai's name as the dragon's fire enveloped his body completely, deflecting it from hurting Lloyd, but wrapping himself in the deadly fires. Too late, Lloyd scrambled backwards in horror as he watched, helpless, while Kai burned to death by the Gem Keeper, the dragon so hell-bent on destroying them it was no longer _just _an enemy.

It was a _dead _enemy. Lloyd would see to that.

"NO ONE HURTS KAI!" He screamed, and, gathering the powers he could from within, harnessing them the way Sensei and the ninja had taught him, using it to spread his inner light to the world surrounding him to rid it of every shadow. He focused his mind on releasing his true potential, relinquishing the powers inside, until a moment later, there was another shockwave that terrorized the ground—only this time, it was from the golden dragon sprouting from within Lloyd. It screamed in the Gem Keeper's face, a light so powerful protruding from its inner sanctum. Lloyd, trying his hardest to keep his hands tight on the reigns, glared the she-dragon in the eye as she arched her back, baring her teeth in a challenge to his dragon, who roared back in an almost amused laugh.

"You. Are. _Mine!" _Lloyd screamed, and yanked on the reigns, sending the golden dragon launching through the air towards the Gem Keeper. She screamed beneath the impact, kicking against his, as Lloyd's dragon breathed fire into her face, breathing a light so bright, it cracked her skin and torched her black. He let out a battle cry of determination to make her pay for what she'd done to Kai.

"Get her, boy!" Lloyd yelled as he jumped off his dragon's back to rush to the pillar of fire where Kai had once stood. He gathered what manageable energy there was in his fingertips for ice, but froze in his tracks (no pun intended.) There, standing in the flames, was Kai, palms pressed securely together, brows dipped beneath his red mask. He narrowed his eyes at the dragon. Lloyd wanted to punch himself for forgetting that Kai was the _fire ninja. _Of course he'd survive that! _I'm so stupid, _he shook his head.

"Lloyd, you have to keep going! Your dragon and I will hold back Ravindra for as long as we can, but that's not promising much!" Kai told him, nodding backwards as he stood, a human torch, at Lloyd's side. "You have to go! Now! The clock's ticking; the suns are almost combined! Hurry! Get Cole's Gem and get to the Light Temple, just beneath the peak in the sky!"

Lloyd took off running.

**CAROLINE**

"I don't see a temple!" she cried, looking around wildly. They stood directly beneath the spot where the destined suns were supposed to meet, yet they caught no sight of any building anywhere near them; in fact, all they were surrounded with was ice, grass, cracked, red earth, and dirt. She kicked the dry earth beneath her and did a quick sweep of their surroundings again. "Zane, Kai said it was supposed to be right here!"

Zane shook his head, lips parted confusedly. "It…it _should _be. I—I don't understand," he admitted in defeat, touching the grass at his boot's heels. He looked grave, solemn at failure. Caroline's shoulders took a dive for the worse. "Have we been taught wrong all along?"

"You doubt my teaching? Ha!"

Caroline whirled to see an old man shuffling up behind them, his bamboo staff sinking into the dirt as he crossed Cole's lands into the three Caroline and Zane took up, a long, hooded hat shading his face from them. A long, white beard reached the black knot of his black belt clasping his robe closed, his feet bare against the elemental ground. She recognized him as the man in the casket Father had opened earlier, but her mind did a quick assessment regarding what knowledge she acquired. Her assumptions took no longer than point-seven-five seconds to complete: This was the real Sensei Wu. Zane had mentioned this was the land where deceased Spinjitzu Masters were sentenced to after their deaths. This had to be him.

Caroline bowed after catching Zane in the act. "Sensei!" he gasped. "Sensei, I'm glad you are here. Perhaps you can help me make sense of this. You see, the Light Temple is supposed to be here, but I'm afraid it is mysteriously absent. Have we gotten the location wrong?"

The old man stroked his beard with wrinkly hands, his eyes crinkled at the edges as he pursed his lips beneath his beard. He looked as wise as Father had described him; he looked young and old at the same time, having traits of both age classes. She straightened her shirt in hopes to appear more professionally inclined standing in her short khaki shorts and yellow long-sleeved shirts. Sensei Wu's blue eyes rested on her with a gentle smile. "So you did bring her," he said, off topic.

Zane glanced to Caroline as she shifted her gaze between the two. She sensed there was something going on. Was it Sensei Wu that asked Zane to bring her here in the first place? Why?

"Indeed, Sensei," Zane said. "This must happen. You know that as well as I do."

"For what to happen, exactly?" Caroline blurted. She glanced warily at the wise, respected man. "If you don't mind my asking," she added quickly.

Zane looked uncomfortable answering—or maybe that's what she gathered from his blank expression with her ability to understand droid emotions without a physical action supporting them—but Sensei spoke up, switching his staff to his other hand so he could rest a gentle hand against her shoulder. It felt warm and reassuring through the material of her shirt. "The Great Battle cannot start without ninjas existing in all four elements and without a ninja existing that has all four in the first place," Sensei Wu said quietly. "With Zane dead, there is an opening in the ice category that must be filled."

Caroline stared at him.

"Zane wants to pass his powers on to _you _in order to help Lloyd win the Great Battle," Sensei Wu said gently, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You are the new Ninja of Ice, Caroline."

**DON'T HATE ME! Xo**

**Did you, if you looked on Deviant Art like I **_**told **_**you to (NAUGHTY IF YOU DIDN'T) catch the references to the Promos I asked you to look at? Huh? Like **_**the forgotten warrior **_**and Cole's **_**vampirism? **_**Remember, Caroline, the Temple of Light on the Dark Island, the one with the **_**bell…**_**Caroline's outfit in the Promo…**_**hmm? **_**:D Y'all catching me? **

**Please review, you guys know I love you for it! Make me so happy! Go have an awesome day/night, scream GREEEEEENNN! As loud as you can when you see a piece of grass, doodle in the middle of class a picture of something from THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT and get in trouble for it (****StoriesAreMagic ****reference…:D I thought that was so funny! If the rest of you don't understand, just look at the reviews. :D) and don't forget to be nice to spiders but not if they try to bite you! DX We don't want you guys getting arachnaeus! :3 –Kairi **


	16. Chapter 15: OH, GOSH

**I tried to make this chapter a little amusing, as I have been trying t do for the past few chapters now. :D Ninjago is always so funny, I'm trying to come up with those senseless, stupid comments that make people laugh, like the "Starcasm" one yesterday. :D It's mainly the Skullkins and Pythor who will be making the lame comments today. XD. I'm aiming for at least a couple of smiles on your guys' faces today! :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_15. Oh, Gosh_

THE TEMPLE WAS TALL, CAVERNOUS IN ITS depth above Misako's head, its loomingly high ceilings bearing cobwebs and dangling spiders from years of remaining untouched. Large, round pillars encrusted with black marble supported the heavy weight of the roof. There were four, placed neatly in every corner of the wide, open space. The walls were made of a similar pasty black cement, oozing out the reek of death through its gnarled pores as though the pressure from the stank was shoving itself into the once-sacred Temple of death.

In the center of this fine structure was a single, filled circular pool in the ground, resting neatly in the shadow of a humungous golden bell, overcast by its marvelous shining glory. A liquid as red as blood, it shone even in the dark of the bell, gleaming evilly like a wicked grin towards Misako. She complied as Kai grabbed her arm and yanked her roughly towards it. This place was even more magnificent than it was in the scrolls!

It was difficult to mask the tremendous awe she felt looking into the pool when Kai ordered her to, watching her image ripple beneath her feet while she stared at herself: Her wild mane of gray hair, her wide, blue eyes—the beautiful genetics Lloyd had inherited them from—and her torn, dirty white blouse, destroyed by Kai's inhumane brutality. Garmadon had bought it for her as a gentlemanly surprise for her to wear when he took them out for dinner a few nights after Lloyd had defeated the Overlord, whom now it seemed hopeless to even have destroyed. Hopelessly, she wished she could send a message to him to warn him of the impending doom stringing a garland around Lloyd's future. She wondered what her beautiful son was doing now—was he sleeping? Was he eating right? Was he crying? Hurt? Misako didn't know, and she feared she'd never be _able _to know with Kai breathing heavily down her neck.

Her reflection destroyed itself when Kai's army of villains marched into the black-painted Temple. The Temple, it seemed, was being called on by time; it pained Misako to see a beloved landmark becoming so weak without reinforcement. But no one dared step foot into Maolo town long enough to take the time, money, and work to restore it—everyone, save for few brave souls, steered clear of the haunted cemetery that had once been a thriving Maolo Town. Now, it was only a war ground and the everlast of a memory.

"Ooh! My favorite color!" Nuckal giggled from behind her. Misako watched Kai turn and glare at him.

"Do you even _see _color?" Pythor hissed, wriggling with a slick, wet sound to rest at Misako's side, peering into the pool with a frown of his wide mouth. His tongue flickered through his teeth.

Nuckal put his bony hand to his mouth and thought about it for a moment before deciding, proudly, "No."

"Alright, you foolish nincompoops, shut your traps and get your head in the game!" Eloquim's staff fell hard down onto the concrete, sending a ripple through the pool and a slight crack to the instable base. Misako winced at the abuse of history. "Now, with your _undivided attention!" _Shouted the gruff voice, startling the distracted Nuckal with the removal and replacing of his pinky finger. The Skullkin jumped into a quick solute at the booming of the deep, shadow-hidden voice. Eloquim's hood covered his face as he slowly came to Kai's side, stirring the bloody water gently with the end of his staff. "Once we set the map inside of this liquid with the proper recipe, it will reveal the true location of the Shadow Key inside of the Lost City of Ouroboros."

"Proper recipe?" Misako mirrored, staring hard at the side of the hood, but gaining no true reaction. "What _kind _of recipe?"

"Sorry, Misako," Kai said, though he sounded anything but sorry, "but this one doesn't contain one egg and two cups of love. This one," Kai produced the rolled, yellowish time-aged scroll from the hidden folds of his fiery cloak. Its concealment would not have been obvious; she hadn't even known he'd acquired it until she saw him remove it now. "Consists of ingredients more along the lines of _blood, guts, _and _gore." _

"Marvelous," she said sarcastically.

"Isn't it, though?" Kai unrolled it, holding it out to Eloquim's bony, scaly hand to curl around, black claws scratching a horrific noise into the paper. It sent shivers up Misako's spine when it hit her eardrums. Still refusing to unhand his golden staff, Eloquim held the ends of the map in each hand, processing it from the shadow of his cloak, a form in which he never removed, never took off for anyone to see the true meaning of the scaly black skin beneath or the green glowing eyes. Kai seemed not to care, but Misako knew if she were to conjure up a deal with a powerful creature she'd be first to get every minor detail she could of the relapsing story.

Watching him, she never took her eyes away from the evil ninja's as she asked, "Will you be using my blood for your little powwow?"

"Not necessarily _just _yours," Kai said as Eloquim smoothed out the paper gently, fascination slowing his movements to a tender caress. Kai's lips smirked powerfully as he grabbed her arm again. A sore, black and blue mark the size of his thumb must've begun to form by now, she figured. "I'd suggest you do as I say and keep quiet and keep still in re for our next little event."

Misako's nerves whirled. _Next event? _If he were asking her to remain silent, it couldn't mean there was much well to come from this…

The slimy tip of Pythor's tail curled around her ankle. Misako gasped from the unexpected contact but stood as still as she could, shivering at the way it curled disgustingly beneath her pant leg, tickling her skin with its horrific slime. "Why, fellows! It's time! Come on out now! I know you're here!"

Misako at first saw nothing, but then she glimpsed the forms of two figures rising from the ash of the ground, conjuring up their translucency from nothing but the bog of death surrounding them and the glitter of the golden bell above their heads. It took her a while for her lenseless eyes to understand the forms as they walked towards them, holding two very large, very potato-ish brown sacks in their arms, both wriggling uncontrollably like newborn babies. Misako's eyes focused on the mop of red hair and small, circular glasses, then the red-makeup-rimmed opaque eyes and deep cerulean clothing. She understood later than she should have when the mysterious figures dropped the sacks at the very edge of the pool, about to fall into death, but not quite brimming its ecstasy.

"_Angus?!" _Misako gasped. "_Avery?"_

Angus blinked at her, glancing at the potato sack like a little child caught in a lie. But quick as the small, feeble feel had come, it disappeared, a new confidence and laughter humming to his aura. Angus pulled off his glasses from his young, oval face and crushed them in his palm. "No," he said lowly. "That _isss _not I."

"Nor _isss _it I," agreed Avery.

Misako's worst fears proved true when their forms suddenly changed, their bodies straightening, becoming a cloud of darkness as they reformed. Long, tail-like shapes grew from their backs, wriggling, wrestling with themselves. Avery's head became large and defined, while Angus' split in half. She fought the urge to scream as their forms took on, at last, the ink of color; Avery became a deep blue as her shirt had been and Angus became the color of the pool wildly slapping itself at Misako's feet.

"Skales," she whispered in horror. "And the Fangpyres."

Skales' tongue flickered out his mouth, smiling deviously. The Fangpyres let out simultaneous laughs. Misako couldn't bear to look at them, yet she couldn't wrestle her eyes away; trying to voice her mind, she cracked more than once, trying to stammer at least a processing of what she thought. "B-but…Angus…A-Avery…you c-can't…it d-d-does-sn't…"

The Fangpyres laughed louder. "You—never—saw—it—coming—did—you?" Each word was split between each head, bobbing like a cobra entranced by a flute with their amused reflections. "We—escaped—the—tomb!—with—the—help—of—our—_leaders!—_Thank—goodness—for—our—friends!—Say,—speaking—of—friends,—when—is—our—good—friend—the—Devourer—arriving?"

Pythor's grip on her ankle tightened, oozing goo down her skin and into her socks. She whimpered in disgust, the slime warm, wet, and messy. She could feel its gooey consistency gathering beneath her feet. She focused on the muffled-crying, writhing potato sacks at the feet of the snakes across from her. Was that the real Avery and Angus? Or had there simply been no real Angus and Avery in the first place?

Pythor chuckled. "He'll be here shortly, but he can't enter the cemetery, I'm afraid. Too much deadly hubbub below there, if you know what I mean. Fear not! He'll wait outside once we're done getting the location of the Key on the map"—he gestured to Eloquim—"and from there, we can do _all _the damage we _want _to this cursed place."

"No!" Misako gasped before she could stop herself. Pythor whirled on her, hissing into her face, yet she continued despite the heat of his drooling tail curled around her leg. "You can't destroy the Temple of the Forgotten Warriors! It's a time piece!"

"I'm amused you actually believe we care," Skales chuckled at her. "What use will it be after we have what we need?"

"_Ooh! Ooh! _Maybe you can use it was a take-out restaurant!" offered Nuckal from behind them. "You know I like Chinese."

Pythor whipped around, almost taking Misako with him, except that he'd retreated his tail back to the outside when he did. She sighed, glad he was no longer infecting her with his scale-spit, but she could still feel it in her shoe. "Make another comment like that, and the next thing you'll be is a pick for my fangs after I eat the woman!"

Misako swallowed hard.

"You want me to pick your teeth?" Nuckal rubbed his skull confusedly. "I guess I could try, but my fingers aren't very sharp…Why can't you use a wood splint like normal snakes?"

Beside her, Kai face-palmed.

"Haven't you heard? _Bone _takes more clutch from your teeth than wood! Plenty effective!" Pythor snarled. "Now, quit your idiocy, or you won't be experiencing resurrection after this!"

"But wait! Isn't that the thing where you need to see the doctor if it happens to you after more than an hour?"

Pythor shook his head, face wrinkled in misunderstanding. "_What?"_

"You know, like the advertisements you see all over the city!" Nuckal's arms extended wide to indicate a large amount of space being referenced.

"You idiot!" Samokai growled, smacking Nuckal's head with an obnoxious _clunk._ "That's _e_rection—"

"OKAY WE CAN SHUT UP NOW!" Eloquim shouted. "No one _cares _of your dysfunctions! The next pair to bicker will be sentenced to a hell that not even Prince _Kai _would want to invade." He threateningly aimed the staff at them, fluttering between Pythor and Nuckal's bowed skull. "We have a _job _to do, and if we do not _complete _it—"

There was the sound of cloth tearing; a moment later, the potato sack resting fitfully at the Fangpyre's feet was shorn of its captive, a red mass flying angrily, quickly, very _speedily _through the air, a blur as it knocked aside the Fangpyre to its back. Misako could hardly focus on the moving shape of red as it darted quickly to knock aside Skales. He gave a cry, only to crack hard against the black cement. Next, Pythor tried to use his long tail to use as a trip line for the blurred mass, but whatever it was—something inhuman, Misako assumed—leaped over its obstacle just in time for Pythor to give himself a spin from the force of his whiplash movement. He swerved off-balance as the mass took a quick punch to his head, stunning him into defeat; Pythor landed uselessly beside the Fangpyre. Misako was awed to watch such a creature—whatever it was—react as it did. What could it be, an elegant thing so blessed? Yet then, she recoiled, fearing for her life as the blur hurried towards her next, but it thankfully swerved around her to shove against Kai, as unsuspecting as the Fangypre and Skales had been to the attacker. He nearly fell, though balance was regained quickly. Eloquim, however, merely moved his staff outwards in a horizontal position to catch the blur's stomach. It stopped abruptly, a form finally being taken on, as it doubled over the bar placed in its path. Misako caught the glimpse of black hair and red dress without recognition before it straightened, revealing the honest, pretty oval face with big hazel eyes she'd seen millions of times before.

Only, there was nothing friendly about Nya's face.

Bared in anger, she shone her elongated pair of canines off to the world, her shock shorn quickly as she leaped back to avoid a swipe of Eloquim's staff. Misako could barely contain her horror while she watched Nya act like a predator right before her eyes. Her back pressed against the spray-painted wall behind her, though her fingers hooked into a claw-like formation, her nails long and deadly sharp. She bent downwards into a defensive crouch. Misako could see her muscles bunch beneath the fabric of her dress as she prepared to launch herself Eloquim and strike a fatal blow.

"It appears you've hit," panted Pythor, finding his ground again, "a sensitive spot?"

A real, true animalistic snarl came from between Nya's teeth as Eloquim stepped closer. Misako's head swam uncomfortably. _What's going on? _She wondered, dazed. Eloquim held out his staff towards Nya's stomach, but as he did so, Nya gave a hiss—a cat-like hiss!—in order to dart quickly out of the way.

"She's protecting her child," hummed Pythor, "how sweet!"

Nya emitted another cat-like, low growl, the sound of an animal when something it didn't like—usually a predator—was nearing. It was a warning from deep within the vocal structure. Eloquim chuckled. "What have you?" he challenged. "Nothing but a pair of fangs and an ounce of agitation—your mate can't save you here!"

Nya growled again. Misako, however, didn't like the contextual use of the word _mate. _Eloquim said it almost as though it were the mating of two animalistic species.

_Which,_ she thought dazedly, _seems to have become Nya's case…_But Jay wasn't a-a monster. Or whatever she was. Nya.

But then she remembered with a barely-audible _"Oh," _of understanding.

Cole.

Misako watched, terrified, as what had been Nya now spat and hissed as though she were something else entirely…

**NYA**

She dodged another attack of vengeance from the hooded man's staff. She could feel the weight of her belly straining beneath her dress, the angry burn of the sting from his whipping smack to her skin pulsing angrily from underneath her flesh. She crept back further as the snakes—Skales and the Fangpyre—closed in on her, holding out their hands. They'd been cautious with her before aboard the Bounty 2 in the forms of Avery and Angus, silently grabbing her from behind after Jay bolted fearfully from the dining room, grabbing her hard and shoving her atop the platinum based dining table, but Nya wasn't about to let herself go down without a fight.

It was one of those moments she cherished happily at the amusing shock of startling away someone with their expressions once they saw her transform into a vampire. It had only ever happened few times, but each time, she loved scaring someone to death with the bleeding of red into her irises, the cool paling of her ivory skin, the visible lengthening of her canines extending past her lower lip's shelter. Her hair would darken to almost an unreal tint of black, contrasting with her literal snow white skin. Her attacker would watch in horror as the childhood nightmare, the story told to force vegetables down children's throat, unraveled right before their very eyes.

It made Nya glad that Cole had ever changed her. Now, she had a constant weapon to fend off enemies with, a permanent way to protect her baby with motherly affection. It was a beautiful thing, this gift of vampirism. Not only the fact that it bestowed her protection, it also bequeathed her one of life's greatest privileges: It had given her the position of Cole's _true _mate, his _true _love. From what she knew there was no other way to change someone unless you truly loved them. And that was just as it had become for Nya. She was his, and he was hers. Forever. Plain and simple.

Just…_not. _

Skales reacted to his kicked snout badly. He waved his tail in pain through the air, smacking the Fangpyre to the side as he clutched at his pushed-in nose, slithering backwards as he wailed, "_My nose! My poor nose! She broke my nose!"_

"Oh, you fool!" Pythor shoved Skales aside. "It's fixable! What do you think nose jobs are for?"

The large purple Anacondri leader raced for her, but Nya jumped upwards, propelling herself over him as she landed atop his tail, digging her pointy claw-like nails into his scales. They ripped off as he wailed in pain, trying to fling her off. Nya flipped forward and landed on her feet just before Pythor spun uncontrollably into the wall. He landed in an unconscious heap at the base of the black stones, still.

The hooded man nodded. "Well done," he complimented. "But it still doesn't prevent you from being a sacrifice."

"_Sacrifice?!" _Misako screamed, and for the first time, Nya noticed the old woman pulled tight to Kai's—_grrr—_chest, arms bent at a painful angle behind her. If Nya had seen her, maybe she would've been wiser to try and release the wise old woman, but instead her focus had centered around protecting the little bump beneath her dress that seemingly everyone wanted to kill.

"Yes, sacrifice, now don't make me repeat myself!" howled the hooded man. "What do you think we brought her here for? Pleasure?"

Nya shivered, barely noticing the similar writhing sack at his feet. She focused on staring deeply into the shadowed green eyes, willing them with every ounce of focus and determination she wielded inside her inner core to do as she said, and release Misako, Nya, and the mysterious moving potato from captivity. She forced hard with the words sending rhythmically like a transmitter from her mind into his by the connection of their gazes; she figured she was making it work well with her compelling ability to control minds when there was a sharp, stabbing pain rippling throughout her skull.

Bright supernovas exploded inside her mind like fireworks. Screaming, Nya clutched her temples, feeling her canines burning, her eyes aching with this high pitched squeal inside of her head. It hummed in a continuous string of high, high, _high _notes. It ached every sense she had, not to mention the painful punches to her brain in the dome of her cranium. Nya collapsed onto the ground and forced herself into a fetal position trying to block out the noise. Her screams didn't die, and neither did the noise.

But there was a voice speaking clearly over it, something she could hear as though it were whispered in her ear. _I cannot be compelled. I can't be controlled by your puny vampiric abilities. It will not work on me, _said the hooded man's voice in her head. She groaned. _But it will work on you._

Suddenly, Nya had the overwhelming sense that she should be sleeping. Yes, sleeping, blocking out that awful screeching noise in her head. Sleeping…

**ED**

"Oh, now look at this one, Edna! It's got the name Jay on it!" Ed waved his hands for her to see. She was at least four gravestones away with her camera in hand, red glasses perched at the edge of her small nose, but it didn't take Edna long to come running quickly to his side, snapping multiple pictures of the dead guy who shared his son's first name. A fatherly burst of proudness coursed through him. Edna beamed at the gravestone.

"Oh, Ed, do you think he's okay?" She thought out loud. "I mean, after all, we haven't talked to him in a while, and he keeps promising he and Nya will visit, but…do you think he's gonna visit?" She looked sad, shoulders slumped disappointedly, but Ed reassuringly wrapped his arm over her shoulders. Affectionately, he patted her shoulder.

"Now, now, Edna, you gotta remember, Jay's a ninja and he's off saving the world, as usual," Ed murmured. He peered at the name, _Jay Johnothan Jacoby Jarrodson, _and wondered who in the world named their son Jay with so many J names like that! He looked around for another interesting headstone.

Ed and Edna visited the Maolo Town cemetery every few months or so, out of sheer fascination with the dead and their deaths involved here. He also liked to see how many people had the same name as his son did—what a proud father he was! That boy, saving the world so many times…

"Oh, make a note, Edna," Ed cried, "I forgot to give Jay his birthday present."

"Ed, he turned eighteen a month ago!"

"Did he?" Ed rubbed his nose. "That's strange. I don't remember a party."

"He didn't come, dear," Edna said sadly. "He was…off saving the world still."

"Oh, now Edna. Let's focus on how proud we are and how much we love him, okay?" Ed let her go to shuffle over to a headstone with the name _Claudius vonderKlutchen _written in a curly font , arched in parallellness to the curve of the headstone's top. "Take a picture of this one, hon! The architecture of the square base for the flower holders down here is just _great!" _

"Wait a minute, Ed," Edna said from a few headstones away. "Do you remember the names of Jay's friends? The ninja ones?"

"I think so," Ed wracked his memory trying to recognize the faces and the names with each ninja he'd been introduced to all those months—maybe years—ago. Oh…hmmm. He saw a blonde haired one, the one who stared at people and said weird things. Oh, what was his name? Ed bit his lip. "Well, there was the odd one," he offered after a pause. "Z something…"

"Nope, not that one," Edna said.

"Okaaay…" Ed tapped his fingers together as he thought _hard. _"There was, hmm…Coke? No, not coke. _Kuh-_something. Um…"

"Coke? How about Coach?"

"Maybe. Hmm."

"Cookies?"

"No one names their kid Cookies, hon."

"I know," Edna said, "because you wouldn't let me name Jay Cookies."

Ed looked at Claudius' grave a little while longer before he said. "Then there was another _Kuh _one. It was the one that sounded funny. The pointy haired one."

Edna nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. That one. I remember. I always wondered why he was so fascinated with that haircut. Doesn't his mother know better?"

Ed shrugged. "Why the trouble, Edna?"

Edna poked the grave in front of her. "Just 'cause I saw this one and I thought maybe…"

"What?"

"I don't know. Doesn't the name 'Kai Smith' sound familiar to you?"

Ed thought a moment. "I…I suppose so. But that's silly. All the ninja are alive!"

Then they heard the screaming. It seemed to be coming from the inside of the really large Temple in the middle of the cemetery, just a run's worth away; Edna and Ed exchanged glances before taking off towards the screaming civilian. "Oh gosh," Ed kept muttering at his tiring legs, though he could feel the danger rolling off the Temple as he got closer and closer. "Oh, gosh. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh—"

At the top of the Temple's staircase, Ed and Edna were faced with the gruesome sight of three skeletons, three snakes, an old woman, a man who looked like a rapist in disguise hiding beneath a cloak, the pointy haired ninja, one sack of potatoes, a really big bell, and _Nya, _sprawled unconscious on the floor. Edna gasped and clung onto Ed's jacket, but he could feel _himself _trembling at the sight of all those green eyeballs focusin' right on them. "Oh, _gosh,_" he said, voice shaking. "Take a note, Edna: Let's never come back here for vacation again."

**X3 ED & EDNA! I love those crazy parents. XD**

**Sooooo… : What did we learn today, my students? Nya's a vampire? **_**"Oh gosh!" **_**:D This is going to be one **_**tough **_**jelly ride! And who's in that potato sack?! **

**FIND OUT TOMORROW (my tomorrow) IN "THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT"! **

**Now, **_**please **_**review, and **_**please **_**go have an awesome day/night, scream at your veggies, hug a nindroid, refer to sarcasm as "STARcasm" and get in trouble doodling in class a depiction of a TAOT scene! ^.^ I'll see you guys right back here sometime soon, okay? :D**

**As always,  
-Kairi**


	17. Chapter 16: SEIKO O SEIKO

**I have literally been working on this since 10 this morning, and it's 4:20 P.M right now. , I have a handful of surprises for you in this one! Some old characters come back, new problems are born, and Kai—not the Kai in the Elemental Realm—pushes his limits! How far will he go to get what he wants? And **_**who will die**_** at his hands?**

**READ ON and find out! (14 pg. document , Sorry it's a little long, was on a roll!)**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_16. Seiko o Seiko_

"VROOOOOMMMMM!" the little boy stuck his Arms into a Horizontal axis, mimicking the straight nosed shoulder line of the flying vehicle he was trying to mimic. His pale cheeks were rosy from the winded run he'd just completed. The tremors of excitement rippled through his small little body, mustering his hair into a fuss of golden shades, unkempt in that awful haircut his mother insisted he keep to shed himself the burden of not being able to see. In his blue sweatshirt over his dark jeans that they'd FINALLY gotten him to tolerate wearing, the boy trotted up the porch steps, his guidance the automatic light that sensed their late arrival. He bounced in his light-up tennis shoes, flashing strobes a the very edge of the father's vision as he unlocked the front door with the small, silver key clasped tightly in the reassurance of his hand.

The little boy gave a pleasureful cry, bolting into that house and flipping on the lights as his humbly mirthful attitude carried him up the staircase to his bedroom. As was told, he was going to dress for bed, put on a comfortable pair of pajamas before returning downstairs for a bedtime snack, a glass of milk, and plenty of love from his parents.

The father molted his ratty old, yet somehow favorite, tweed jacket, plucking it against the hook named specifically for the purpose of coat hanging. At his side, his wife gently pressed the door shut, twisting the indoor lock afterwards. Her long brown hair was shining beautifully down her shoulders over the top of her woven green shawl. She held it neatly, clasping it together with her hands at her breast, finally letting go of it when her husband took it from her gently to hang it beside his. She smiled lovingly up at him, pressing her face to his shoulder, holding him tightly against her with a sickening premonition that she'd soon have to let him go.

He held her just as tight, knowing in the dread of the situation could not be reversed. The debt of their costly functions was lingering over them with knives poised in its petrifying grip, with hardly an escape route to desert with. He was running out of options as time left his side. There wouldn't be much to do if he didn't act quickly to find a plan in support of his wife and son when he left.

As she shut off the lights that didn't need to be on, he caught her arm, hoping to find time in what little left before his son returned from his childish bedroom above them. She turned her honest blue eyes on him cordially at the quiet call of her name.

"My love," he began. "I have arranged—yet not fully completed—a plan. You see, our debt—"

"DADDY!" His son bounded down the staircase, enthused, his small feet pounding against the carpeted floor of the grand stair set the father had paid thousands for, just to give the house an accent worth more than just a few inconsequential articles of furniture and rotting wooden paneled walls. He sighed, giving his wife a look that said _we'll talk later _before turning to open his arms to his enraptured son.

"My boy!" He murmured into his son's golden hair. "How good to see you again! I almost thought perhaps your closet swallowed you whole and left nothing but a pair of lonely pajamas on your bedroom floor!"

His son giggled appreciatively, his small hands clasped around the back of his father's neck, an exclusive affection muttering between them like the wind flies gently between trees. "I can fight anything!" He exclaimed, his soft blue pajamas rubbing against his father's rough skin as the boy's arms raised into the air. "My daddy is Garmadon; he has all the power in the world!"

Garmadon shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, yes, son," he complied, deciding it was better Lloyd didn't know that he did _not _have all the power in the world, nor the freedom to choose which side he favored.

His wife, Misako, pretended not to listen, instead rummaging through the refrigerator for spare milk and something healthy for Lloyd to eat before bed. Garmadon pressed his head to Lloyd's shoulder despondently. It pained him to force his family in a monotonous suffrage with who Garmadon was, and this wretched poison flooring his veins as though it were the blood occupying them. How _dare _this sickness completely destroy his life? How _dare _the Devourer destroy him so relentlessly, so ruthlessly? How _dare _it…

_Present Time —_

Garmadon opened his eyes against the flickering candlelight surrounding him by the dozens. Every candle he had in his house had been beckoned to him in a ceremonial cleansing, a trick he'd learned from his father all those virtuous years ago. _This should help calm your nerves and open your mind, _he'd told Garmadon and Wu, standing side by side in the concave shelter of the mountaintop monastery, listening intently to their father's wise words. _If you ever feel the need to be cleansed of any negativity you may have, my sons, pull out the candles and concentrate your mind. _

Garmadon wrecked his peaceful position by wiping his damp cheeks. _Wu, _his brother, his best friend, a dead man at the hands of the same monster that had destroyed Garmadon—and Lloyd. How could this have happened to him? How could his life be ruined by the same monster, who no longer existed anymore but somehow managed to linger its woeful presence? How could everything he ever loved be taken away by this _one nonexistent beast?_

When Garmadon had ran to leave the _Bounty 2_, running from his problems as he usually did for the lonely man he was, he'd told Misako they had no place on this boat, no purposeful despondence on this comical aircraft. They should go. They couldn't stay. _Garmadon _couldn't stay knowing his own son had wanted to kill him—yet Misako had _insisted _she stay.  
"It isn't completely Lloyd," she'd argued, clinging tight to the woolen material of his gray sweater, refusing to release her grip the fraction of an inch with the fear he'd disappear immediately. "It's his destiny. He had to fight you, had to destroy you—and he didn't. It's trying to consume him, Garmadon. Don't you see? It's trying to use him somehow. There is a darkness here that I don't like in the least. Something isn't right. We have to work together to help keep Lloyd out of it—we must work _past _these things that he's claimed to have done. How do we know he killed Wu?"

Garmadon had wrenched his arm savagely. "He _said _so, Misako! Don't _you _see?"

"Garmadon!" She'd grabbed for him again desperately. "We don't _know _he meant it! We don't know it was entirely _true!" _

"I will hear _none _of this!"

"He is your _son! _You must!"

"No son of mine would've killed my own _brother," _Garmadon spat, his words shooting her face as though he'd just grown back four arms, her body jerking backwards to avoid his raised hand. Garmadon looked back and forth between it and she. He hadn't meant to raise his hand as though he was going to physically hurt her—yet there it was, dangling in the air between them. He'd scowled his face off and turned away from her, calling over his shoulder, "Perhaps no wife of mine, either, would side with a _murderer." _

He regretted saying them now, but there was no other choice for him now. She was gone, Lloyd was gone, and Garmadon was finally, brutally, eternally alone.

He sighed, taking in and releasing a gusto of breath that killed the flickering flames of the candles before him, shutting them up quickly on the dining room floor. Garmadon was consumed in darkness, just the way he had always been, just the way it seemed he always would be. He stood up, overstepping the candles circling him, and made his way towards the staircase he'd once paid thousands for just to make Misako feel a little happier. Now it seemed pointless; she'd sided with Lloyd in this. He rubbed the back of his neck, taking the stairs slowly as an old man like him couldn't climb them more than one every couple of seconds. It was a sadness to him as he reached the half step, barely glancing towards his ring of dead candles, when he saw a rather strange thing.

One single, lone candle, burning brightly in the center of his circle, a place where there had been no candle when he'd left.

Garmadon frowned as he watched it. What was the meaning of this?

Then, slowly lit four others, gathered in a square formation distantly around the center flame, lighting one by one, slowly as they took their time. Garmadon stared in awe as the candles lit themselves, then each leaning towards the center, becoming painted with different colors as the seconds ticked by: first, a blue flame, flickering darkly; then, a pure white one; followed by the reddening of another; and the blackening of the last. The center flame grew taller, taller, and taller yet as each color came to be before it finally turned a shade of gold, twinkling brighter than anything Garmadon had ever seen. He descended the stairs quickly to examine the phenomena more closely.

He stared into the flames. And then, he _saw. _

Large, angry black wolves, dancing with a dark firestorm around them, howling, spitting, snarling as they chased after something, something infinitely very fast compared to the speed of the gruesome animals. They chippered, howled, screamed; it sent uncomfortable ripples up Garmadon's crooked spine. He watched through the center flame with a sickening feeling that he knew what he'd see next. The wolves laughed again when there was a loud, detached cry of fear and pain that matched no noise of these wolves.

He saw Lloyd.

Lloyd screamed in fear as these animals circled him, their feet scratching against a ground of dirt, their laughter inhumanly a cross between the laughter of a person and some animal. He wore some kind of replacement ninja suit Garmadon had never seen before, a gold deeper than the flames, as he set a ring of fire around him to try and hold back the beasts. Garmadon caught a glimpse of some kind of brown gem clutched in his hand. But he didn't have time to dwell on the rocky object, for the wolves were peeking through the flames now; Lloyd was trapped in his own protective shield, wolves bobbing through the fire as though it didn't hurt. He put out the fire with ice, but the wolves dug in their claws, using them as picks to keep themselves from slipping; heavy chunks of rocks bounced uselessly from their bodies. Lightning continued to ripple through their matted black fur as though they were statically charged. _Nothing _seemed to hurt them.

And they were getting closer to Lloyd by the second.

There was a distant roar, shaking Garmadon's attention from Lloyd's center flame to the red one in the far left corner, where a giant, angry dragon and Lloyd's golden beast fought with teeth, claws, and fire, yet both sides continuously forgave matched attacks. There, Garmadon saw the small, red-clad form of the fire ninja, Kai, picking up broken, dried tree limbs and tossing them forward like javelins to stick abcessedly into the skin of the giant, angry red dragon. It whirled on him, aiming fireballs at him, but he flipped multiple times in order to ensure a torch-free future. He resumed the wooden javelin-toss of insufficient matters when it was distracted by the golden dragon.

A howl of anger brought his eyes lurking to the left blue flame, closest to him. Garmadon observed the sight of the annoying, red-haired ninja (Jay, was it?) attacking the black haired one, Cole, coming at him with a heavy, pointed piece of wood under his arm, aiming it as he screamed towards the black ninja. He held out his homemade weapon while he used it in a swiping motion, but Cole ducked, catching a blow to Jay's legs, forcing him to the ground. Behind them, in the distance, a _huge _strike of lightning pierced the ground. The loud noise flooded Garmadon's house, even shaking the fine china in Misako's case in the corner of the small room. He jumped, for he hadn't seen that one coming. And he certainly _hadn't _seen the waterfall of blood pouring down Cole's chin, dampened, gleaming eerily in the darkness as he smiled wickedly at Jay, an anger beckoning Jay towards him in an _I dare you. _Garmadon also saw the large trickle of blood flowing from the blue ninja's neck from two large, piercing holes in his pale skin.

_Vampire, _Garmadon thought with a gasping breath. _Vampire! _

He tore his eyes away to look into the white flame at the upper right corner of the square, watching the white ninja, Zane, wrap his arms comfortingly around the girl who'd brought Lloyd, Misako, and Garmadon to the _Bounty 2 _in the first place: Caroline. He pressed his face into her hair. She looked distressed, shaken, and afraid, numbly wrapping her arms around him as her body trembled vigorously beneath him. There was a background of grass and trees behind him, in which if Garmadon looked hard enough, he could see pitch black clouds and lightning falling rhythmically from them. There was an old, wrinkled hand that settled onto the shoulder of the yellow-shirt clad girl, followed by the long white sleeve of someone's shirt. And then, Garmadon saw once more. He gave a cry as he took in the wide straw hat and long, bamboo cane.

"Wu!" He cried. "Wu! But…how can this be?"

"_AHHHHHHHH!" _Lloyd shrieked. Garmadon's vision snapped back to the golden flame as his son was attacked by a large, ebony wolf, one with a large scratch over his eye. Garmadon gave a scream as the gem rolled from Lloyd's limp grasp, the beast's jowls locking onto a part of Lloyd that Garmadon couldn't see, cutting off the scream short with a gurgling sound that made him freeze in his tracks.

"_Lloyd!" _He screamed, leaping towards the fire although in his head he knew there was no hope. But…there _was. _As he jumped into the wall of fire, he felt it consume him, yes; but there was a pleasant feeling behind it. He felt as though he was falling, wind rushing around him. He closed his eyes, his stomach flying upwards—and then there was a howl, a crack, a _body beneath his. _Garmadon felt himself being thrown upwards as he clung to dirty black tufts of hair. He gasped when he realized he was on _top _of that wolf he'd seen trying to kill his son.

The wolf reared back, its front paws flying through the air. Garmadon clung for dear life with his heart beating quickly in his chest. He straddled the creature as it started running, shaking its head, vigorously trying to shake him off. Garmadon dug his fingernails into it. "_You will not hurt my son!" _he yelled, yanking sideways on the hair, and the beast turned to the right, flying in circles as it whined under the force of Garmadon's tight grip. The other wolves watched, unsure of what to do. He caught sight of his son, starting to sit from the ground, dazed in his travel into a sitting position. With his hands pressed behind him in the dirt, his mouth hung open in a wide _O. _He looked unharmed except for four pink parallel scratches down either side of his cheeks, tender, but from a while ago. It didn't look like this awful, disgusting creature had been able to harm him yet. And that was the way it would _always _be.

"Lloyd!" Garmadon shouted, pulling hard on the wolf's hair. It screamed and turned in a circle so he could face Lloyd. "Lloyd, get the gem! Grab a wolf! Let's go!"

**LLOYD**

Lloyd fumbled for the rock on the ground, but a wolf dove for his naked hand, its jowls wide open, ready to strike. Lloyd froze as he watched, helplessly, with its spit dripping only inches from his hand. Garmadon yelled for him, but by then, it had already happened.

The wolf screamed, recoiling from Lloyd's right hand, clasped over the gem. It screeched in fear, backing up, communicating exclusively through barks towards its colleagues. Lloyd watched in confusion as fear emanated off them in waves he could feel tear through his skin. He smiled when he saw the red eye glowing on his skin, twinkling in the midst of this danger. _So you've come to some use after all! _He thought, grabbed the Gem, and held out his hand at the wolves. "Want some?!" He shouted intimidatingly, and they screeched in fear. "Ha! BACK IT UP!" He waved his hand at them. They yelped and ran in packs backwards, realizing that Lloyd was _no one _to mess with. He punched the air and turned to his father.

Garmadon reared up beside him on the wolf, pulling it to a stop. "Get on!" He yelled. Lloyd hopped onto the back, straddling the matted fur, holding tight onto his father's shoulders. Garmadon let out a triumphant _"Hyah!" _again, forcing the wolf into drive. It ran off forward, out of Cole's distant Tundra, dirt flying behind them like water from a skier's skis. In the distance, he could just see the dragons fighting; he realized they needed to get Kai before the suns, almost a peak above them, could clash to end this dream.

"Dad!" He yelled. "Go towards the Mountain! We need to save Kai!"

"On it!" Garmadon yelled, veering the whining wolf towards the Land of Fire. "_Hyah! _Dance, you mongrel, _dance!" _

Lloyd laughed triumphantly. They were picking up speed, but was it enough? Lloyd could see the suns overhead just minutes from touching each other's sides, forcing it into seconds before they clashed. "Hurry! Time's almost up!" He shouted to his father, who dug deeper into the wolf's skin.

Would they make it in time?

**KAI**

"_Arraauauughhh!" _Kai hurled the wooden javelin as far as he could, but it stuck uselessly into the shoulder of the Mountain Dragon, barely denting its skin, only clinging to it as though there was nothing for it, like it didn't hurt to be stabbed with wood. "_Stop it!" _He yelled at the poor Golden Dragon. It wouldn't listen to his tortured pleas, whiplashing the ninja with its tail, knocking him into the hard surface of a broken, dried out, leaf-less tree. It snapped in half against Kai's flying weight, propelled in violence towards it. He barely had time to do anything as the red dragon swiped its large claws against the Golden Dragon's face, knocking it to the jail of ground. "Get up!" Kai cried, but it laid there, unmoving. A fireball began in the open mouth of the Mountain Dragon's throat, about to kill, ready to take action in a bitter recessive murder. "_No!" _yelled Kai, trying to stand, but as the Dragon prepared to attack Lloyd's precious protector, there was a yelp from somewhere to his right. Kai turned his head to see a large black wolf, Garmadon, and Lloyd.

"Kai!" he yelled. "Let us in!"

"_GET IN HERE!" _Kai yelled without trying to decipher where Garmadon came from or what that thing they were riding was. They sped into the cracked ground of Kai's Fire Section; from the back of the wolf, Lloyd stood and back-flipped off the creature, running as quickly as his legs would take him to his dragon's side. The Mountain Dragon almost laughed at him as he stood before it, throwing out his arms with a determined frown on his face. Then, as she spat fire, and Garmadon and Kai screamed for Lloyd, there was something most amazing that happened that day, something that made Kai think deeper into the original, provisive thought that Lloyd really _was _the green ninja.

He held up his right hand, back of it facing predominantly outwards in a shield. The fireball bounced off some kind of unseen fortress around Lloyd and the Golden Dragon. Confused, she spat harder, flames becoming stronger, but whatever Lloyd was doing had propelled her. When her fire streak ended, it was as though she'd seen a ghost; looking to his hand, she screamed wildly in effect of whatever unseen power Lloyd had used. She cried out with a backwards flap, sending her flying into the air, screaming the whole way back. After glaring in her direction triumphantly, Lloyd turned back to his dragon, stroking its head with a teardrop in his eye. Kai wrestled himself from the remains of the broken tree with an awful pain in his side, yet continued his journey across towards the whining black wolf, spitting drool like fire with a bowed head. Garmadon waved him on, yanking the wolf back to allow Kai a passing; he took Lloyd's hand comfortingly.

Lloyd swallowed hard, battling floods of tears in his eyes. Kai touched his shoulder. "I'll make sure he passes in peace," Kai murmured. "But for now, we need to get to the Temple."

Lloyd touched the dragon's head one more time before following Kai back to the wolf. He hopped on board, grabbing Lloyd's hand with a yank upwards. "You have the Earth Gem?"

"You know it!" Lloyd tried to look confidently happy, but there was sadness behind his eyes Kai didn't like. He squeezed the boy's arm in a comforting, brotherly gesture before telling Garmadon, "Let's go! Underneath those suns!"

"I'm on it!" Garmadon yelled. He pulled on the wolf's hair. "Onward!"

As they rode off, Kai heard Lloyd whisper from behind him, "Goodbye, old friend."

Kai felt his shoulders become heavy. His heart held weight to it, too, as he thought it, even though there wasn't a direction to Kai in Lloyd's statement. _Goodbye, brother. Goodbye…_

**MISAKO**

Misako flinched. Nuckal and Kruncha bound the old couple's hands tightly with violence she didn't appreciate. "Oh, golly," murmured the old man while Skales wrapped the rope around their back-to-back formation. "Oh, boy, Edna, this isn't good."

Edna—the woman—looked tremendously fearful as Skales and the Fangpyre pushed them towards the designated spot that Misako was kneeling, the lonely spot just behind the band of villains, grouped in a huddle around the pool beneath the bell. With her body trembling, Nya's head rested in her lap, a faint trickle of blood pouring from the corner of her mouth from the force of the blow the hooded man had taken to ensure she stayed asleep. Kai had released Misako's rope bound hands after the couple had come in, and not a moment too soon after they'd sealed the Temple of Forgotten Warriors shut with a spell making sure no mortal—like Misako—could leave until the ritual of decoding the Ouroboros Map was completed. Now, she stroked Nya's head, feeling terrible for what had become of her. And then, the potato sack, quieted without anyone quite sure of who was in there, but not quite sure if it was safe to open it. The old couple was pushed against the wall beside Nya, with Edna facing Misako. She rubbed Nya's cheek softly under the scrutiny of Edna through her thick-lensed red glasses.

"You _sssss_tay here!" Skales hissed. _"_Move, and I eat you."

Edna whimpered. As Skales slithered away back to the meeting Evil Villains Uniting Club, she tried to wrestle free of the rope binding her to the man, but couldn't seem to break a loosen in its clawlike grasp. Finally, she huffed, defeated by something as simple as a rope. "Oh, Ed!" Edna cried. "Why us?"

"I don't know, hon," Ed sighed.

"Where's Jay when you need him?!"

At the sound of Jay's name, Misako's head snapped up. She met the woman's gaze directly, no mercy for uncomfort through her own lenses. "You know Jay?" She asked.

"Why, I should!" Edna said. "He's my son!"

"We're so proud of him," Ed said without Misako being able to see him.

"How do _you _know Jay?" asked Edna cautiously, her face wrinkling under her brown bun of hair. Her brown jacket matched the shade exactly.

"I'm Misako," Misako introduced. "Lloyd Garmadon's mother."

"Oh!" Ed's disembodied voice carried around Edna as the other woman watched with wide eyes and a frowned mouth, a negatively shocked reaction Misako was quite used to. "Why nice to meet ya! Isn't Lloyd the green ninja that Jay's always talking about on the phone, Edna?"

"Yes," Edna answered patiently.

"Oh, take a note, Edna!" he cried. "We're meeting a celebrity's parent!"

"Ed, I _can't _take a note. My hands are tied."

To this, Ed replied enthusiastically, "So are mine!"

Misako stroked Nya's face again, her smooth, soft skin, returning back to its natural creamy consistency as the vampiristic facial expression she'd worn left her, her fangs retracting into her mouth, her lips turning pink, and her eyelids, which had been shadowed with a silvery color, losing their hue. It wasn't like anything Misako had ever abundantly experienced. There had never been a warning of vampires in any independent scroll or text she'd ever come across, which something Misako hadn't read was hard to come by. She devoted the majority of her life and being to philosophy, history, science, and upcoming technologies; she knew everything. Yet lately there had been a testing of her expanded knowledge. Recently she'd been feeling latent in her studies and lore. Plenty of things she _hadn't _known, _hadn't _been aware of kept happening, beginning, and the sorts. Every turn she cornered became something ironic. It was becoming something of a ruining malfunction to her. How could things she _didn't _know exist?

"Oh, poor Nya!" Edna cried. "Is she alright? What's happened? _What's _going on, anyway? Why are there so many snakes, and why is that ninja here, and why is there a big bell, and why are they staring at me, and _why—" _

"Hon," Ed said gently, "I think you should be a little quieter. I mean, after all…We _are _surrounded."

"Oh, Jay!" Edna cried. "Where is he?!"

Kai turned to them, whispering something to Pythor, who then nodded enthusiastically at him. "Right!" He responded. With that, he began a guffaw of laughter, a wriggling of his tail perceiving a fascinated emotion deep within him. Misako tensed as the iniquity of the slithering snake rolled off him. She kept her face impassive when he started to slither towards them, while Eloquim marched towards the door holding his staff in his scaly hands. Misako wished she could focus on two things at once, but she lost all focus on Eloquim as Pythor wriggled up to them.

"Hello, my little captives," murmured Pythor devilishly. "I'm so glad you could join us today in this _fine rrrr_itual of ours!" While his tongue hissed on the _s_'s_, _his accent rolled on the _r'_s. "Now, we're just waiting on our other guests, but if you'd please just sit tight, they will arrive _very _shortly." With that, Pythor bent to grab the end of the oversized potato sack, big enough to fit more than one person in it. He wrestled with the tie at the end before completely widening the opening, which from there, he tore it upwards with a quick jerk of his wrist. The sack ripped in half, revealing two bodies, one of which was clad in brown, his hair usually so neatly styled now messed unnaturally. Misako gasped and reached towards Darreth's unconscious form. "Oh, _my word!"_ She shrieked, touching the thick gray tape slapped across his mouth. She rolled him towards her. "What have you done?!"She gasped once she saw his face. His right eye was bruised, a circle the size of a fist wrapped around his eyelid and extending to his eyebrow, rupturing his cheek as well. Blood caked his nose and his bound hands.

Pythor chuckled. "He put up a good fight," he commented.

"You _sick—" _She paused, glancing at the other body enveloped in the sack. The girl's back was to her, but Misako could make out the thin shoulder line, the small curve of her waist and hips. She wore a skirt, nothing fancy, just a very light shade of violet. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt. Straight, thin, short black hair didn't reach past her shoulders, but rather fell in a gentle, shining heap against the ground, revealing her long neck and part of her chin. From her angle, Misako could see just a glimpse of heavy black lashes resting against her cheeks. Words couldn't describe the horror she felt then, glancing from the girl's barren feet to the top of her head. It didn't take her long to stand and bolt to the other side of the split potato sack, to rest her hands against the hollow cheeks of the girl. "_You monster!" _She yelled, lifting the form and pulling it hard against her chest. "_You sick monsters! _How _could _you?"

Kai chuckled darkly from a distance. "It's not that hard, you see," he said quietly, with a strong force behind his disdainful words. "You kidnap someone with promises of love."

Misako stroked the cheeks of the girl, tears falling from her cheeks. "How _sick _must you be to do this to a little girl?!" She shouted. _"How sick?!" _

Everyone watched her with no answer. Misako, after knowing there would be no response, bent back down, resting her lips against the girl's head. "_Whatever _you think you can prove"—she snarled at them—"you only prove that you have _no respect for anyone."_

"And you think we care?" asked Samokai.

"No," Misako said brokenly after a moment. "No, I don't."

She recognized the little girl even as the doors opened and Eloquim invited in more perverse snakes with their prisoners, two familiar men that also made Misako cry. She knew them, too. She reached out her hands while still holding the girl in her arms; but even that was never enough. The black haired, suit-dressed man with the dark mustache didn't know her personally, but Misako didn't waste time recognizing him from the posters all over town. Not to mention the white lab coat and graying hair with the startled blue eyes behind the glasses she saw too. Their faces wrenched a painful cry out of her heart. Misako had sullenly hoped she was the only one brought here today, the only one who had to die, but it seemed there was more of a plan on Kai's mind than he had originally let on. But of course he had more to the story than he wrote; there was _always _something beneath words and actions, even if it were unsaid. Misako should've picked up quickly on this yet she failed again. What was becoming of her?

With no time to waste, she cried out, "_Julien! Julien, no!" _

Julien shook his head as the snakes dragged him towards her, along with the man whom Misako couldn't name, other than the lead singer and dancer of the Royal Blacksmiths. They were tossed down beside Jay's parents, beside Lloyd's mom, beside Darreth and the little girl whom Misako only knew by spoken memories and photographed time. She reached wildly for Julien, finding peace in his arms; but the Royal Blacksmith shook his head in shock.

"Cole told me…" he murmured, trying desperately to find his voice. "He told me the snakes were gone!"

"Jay told us the same!" Ed cried from behind the man, who turned and watched, wide eyed, with parted lips. He turned back to Misako and Julien before catching sight of the little girl in Misako's arms, wrapped tightly, unconscious in the dark. His face paled as he cried out for her, wriggling towards Misako around Darreth and Nya to her side. Julien did his best to move so the man could come to comfort the girl.

"Oh, my beautiful girl!" cried the Royal Blacksmith. He tried to release himself from the binding ties but couldn't wrench himself away. "Oh, my beautiful _daughter," _he sobbed. "My b-aab-by g-g-irl! _Ohhhhhh-hh-hh!" _Tears ran down his face as he watched her, unmoving. "My d-da-ugh-t-ter!"

Misako remembered she was the only one Cole had ever told about Seiko, his two-year-younger sister whom his father had shipped off to Marty Oppenheimer's when she was "diagnosed," per se, with bipolar disorder. _There were so many things wrong with Seiko, _Cole had said one day Misako had pressed the sense of wrongness to his attitude, holding a photograph of the same girl in his hands. Seiko, a pretty, oval faced girl, stood beside Cole with her arm around his waist, standing in front of Marty Oppenheimer the day before school started at her first school as they moved her minimal amount of belongings into her dormitory. _Dad never liked her much. She was really…different. Didn't like people very much. Didn't want to be around anyone but me and my father. When he told her she'd be living there, I thought she was going to stab him. Seiko was never completely…right in the head. It hurt me to see her go away because Dad didn't like her. After my mom passed—they never got along in the first place, but with Mom gone, I felt like I was the only one left to keep the peace. Then, after she was gone, it felt unbalanced at home. I started getting into fights, started hurting people out of anger when I never wanted to really hurt them. People were my punching bags. So Dad then just sent me away. I wasn't in the same building as Seiko, so I never saw her. But then I ran away because I couldn't do what my dad wanted me to do. I feel like I abandoned Seiko. Left her for her own. I didn't think she had many friends. She never was much of a friendly acquaintance maker…_

"Seiko!" cried the Blacksmith, the howl of a brokenhearted man echoing off the black walls, keeping in the noise like it kept in heat. "H-h-o-w…._ahhhhgg!" _He fell over in despair. Misako shook her head, lips parted, foggy. She didn't know what to do…

_Seiko used to write me letters. _Cole pulled out a box from his trunk at the foot of his bed. He handed it to Misako gently as he sat back down beside her. Pawing through them, there were at least a hundred, gently folded and stacked in the shoebox. _She would always tell me how much she hated it there. She failed classes because she couldn't dance. We both kind of got Mom's genes. Mom was never one for dancing and singing and musicals. It made my dad pretty disappointed in us. I wrote to her telling her to just run away like I did, but Seiko told me that she was kept in a "special room." Under maintenance all the time. Everyone watched her, wouldn't let her do as she pleased, wouldn't let her leash have even a centimeter of slack. Routine meals. They even went so far as to bar her windows when they caught her escaping! _Cole shook his head, exasperated. _I want to go get her as soon as we reach Ninjago. She can't stay there anymore. She tells me she has no one. All her friends who _were _her friends hate her, won't talk to her, won't respond when she speaks to them. She says even her teachers hate her because she can't do anything. It's terrible._

Misako listened to the Royal Blacksmith's howls while watching the sunken, limp, lifeless body in her arms. Julien shook his head, too, knowing the pain of losing your child. Misako didn't ever want to, but she had the feeling that Lloyd wasn't about to forgive her so soon. Or Garmadon. Really, everything they sat in now was so messed up, so destroyed; and over what? _What _was any of this _for? _

_Seiko once wrote me she felt like I was the only one who loved her anymore. At first, it was okay, and I told her she'd be fine. I told her over and over, you know, I'd say, "Seiko, you're not alone, and know I love you," right? But she just kept saying it and saying it and saying it. She'd ask me, "Promise?" all the time when I called her. I'd say "Of course" and continue on. But she was getting really…needy. I'd say "I love you" before I hung up and she'd say "Promise me!" and I would say, "Why?" and she'd tell me, "You'd better promise," so freakily that I would. She'd say it in this low voice, deep, scary. She almost sounded possessed. Then one time I said no just to see what happened. What she'd do. I never expected she'd react the way she did. She started screaming at me. Blowing up. So angry. She would literally _shriek. _Just…shriek! No words. Just voice, screaming at me, to the point where I'd hold the phone away because she'd scream so loud. Then, her voice got distant; when I held the phone back to my ear, I heard people talking to her and she was just _yelling _at them. It got to a point where someone else picked up the phone, told me I had to hang up. Some old woman. It was scarier than hell. I asked if Seiko was okay, and to tell her I didn't mean it and that I loved her, but the woman just said flatly—and I'll never forget—"Just be careful what you say to her, okay? Even hard medication can't keep this one down." It was the scariest thing I've ever heard in my life._

Misako stroked the girl's hollow cheeks again. She touched the girl's limp arms, running her hands absentmindedly down the material slowly. It was tragic to see this happen to her. She touched Seiko's wrist, and beneath the soft, light fabric, Misako felt something hard and square. She frowned.

_I can't believe people at the Oppenheimer would say that about their students. Who treats people that way?_

Misako lifted the material, and she gave a loud, audibly, horrified gasp.

Seiko was never at the Oppenheimer.

Beneath her sleeve, wrapped in a water-repellant plastic, was an admission bracelet, but not one condoning her student identification. No, this one was far, far worse, even as her eyes scanned the small words printed neatly across the piece of paper, letting her know that this was no school of performing arts ticket.

The bracelet beneath Seiko's shirt was for the Ninjago City Insane Asylum.

And Seiko was the number one most feared case.

**What will happen to the ninjas' parents? What will Kai (outside of the Realm) do to them? Will Misako be able to devise a plan to get them out of the Temple of Forgotten Warriors before the Evil Villains Uniting Club can attack? What happened to Seiko? Will the ninja find the missing temple in time, or will they be too late? **

Pardon for my horrific ending, you guys probably really don't care that Seiko was insane. , But there's a reason for Seiko's appearance, which you guys will find out in the next chapter, expected to be out today! YAY! **And btw, do you guys know what Cole's dad's name is? Does he **_**have **_**a name? If he doesn't, I'll have to make up a name for him bc I really don't wanna keep calling him "the Royal Blacksmith"…so if I have to make up a name, what should it be? Any answers are greatly appreciated!**

**Want the perfect Ninjago music to listen to while reading the NFAN series? Visit for the ACTUAL SCORES OF NINJAGO! (Under "hear" section) The musical selections inspiring this chapter are:**

_Temple Showdown, Return of the Dragons, the Main Event, Remembering Father, Skullkins Attack, _and _Garmadon Bites Back! _

**Keep your eyeballs open for the next chapter today, and go have an awesome day/night, scream at green, (haha that rhymes!) eat some ice cream, and keep reading NfaN: The Autumn of Twilight! **

_The Autumn is coming, guys…and when it comes, there will be hell to pay…_


	18. Chapter 17: THE TEMPLE OF LIGHT RETURNS

**Here's that chapter I promised! The beginning, however, is kind of a little shaky, but it ends pretty strong! We take liftoff with Caroline and Zane as she tries to process becoming the new Ice ninja, and, well, I guess you'll have to see how it ends. :3 So I apologize if the beginning isn't as interesting, but it will get better as the chapter goes on! :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_17. The Temple of Light Returns_

"I CAN'T, AND YOU _KNOW_ I CAN'T," CAROLINE shook her head, rubbing her eyes with her hands, as though she could ease away the words Sensei Wu had had the gall to utter. _I can't be a ninja, _Caroline thought, shaking her head quickly beneath the reverberating suns, everything around her eating away at her thought process while she tried to wrap her head around it. Zane kept his hands on her shoulders, ducking to catch her eyes in hopes to reassure her, but there wasn't any room for reassurance in Caroline's overcrowded system. She felt frustrated with herself, operating solely on shock, that she couldn't be a little thankful that Zane picked her to use as a passage for his powers. _Obviously he thought _that she was capable of being one, otherwise he would not have picked her in the first place, but refusing to see that, Caroline paced irrobotically. The emotions her father programmed her with now betrayed her in what should've been a rational pass off of powers yet she couldn't seem to calm down her fraying nerves.

"Caroline, I _do," _Zane pleaded for her to look at him, but all she could do was look at the ground between them. "Do you not think that perhaps I picked you because I believe you have more gut than anyone else I know? I believe you are righteously the informal ice ninja. You must be. I have a feeling. I can sense this is the correct decision, Caroline. You must trust me."

"No!" Caroline gasped quickly, but Sensei touched her back. She turned to him, but she couldn't find herself able to meet his eyes either.

"Zane discussed this with me before we decided to bring you," Sensei murmured. "I know there's something special about you, Caroline. I never knew you, but I do now, and I can feel it in my old, er, _bones." _He tapped his arm, although Caroline knew no real bones were harvested inside. "You _can."_

"Think of it as a contribution to the cause," Zane offered. Finally, she was able to raise her gaze to his icy blue irises, and she realized that since she'd met him on this strange earth, he had been particularly _human. _The way he talked, stood, and even his cultivating facial expression had shifted. Even the vestige of his old self hadn't held such sentiment. It was beautiful for her to see him look so…_human. _The only time Caroline had ever witnessed him being this way was back when he was alive, when his life held a heartbeat of values designed for probable cause. Now, even after death, Caroline had a sense that he was now fully, truthfully, _realistically _a human soul. She felt a burst of pride when she realized that yes, that was _exactly _what it was; Zane had reunited with his former past self to now exist in this otherworldly realm in which they now stood, hanging beside the point as Caroline decided to herself that she couldn't become a ninja.

_Why _though? She asked herself. _Why _can't I become a ninja?

_Because, _she decided finally, _because if I did I'd be replacing Zane, and I can't replace him. I'm not as amazingly spectacular, not as skilled, not as happy, or detailed, or loving, or—I can't become him. I could _never _replace Zane. What kind of devil would I be if I did that to him? The other ninja would look at me as though that's exactly what purpose I served, was to fill a gap, because that's all I'd _be.

But he was _asking _her to. He _wanted _her to.

He _needed _her to.

"I—I _can't." _Caroline shook her head, running her hands through her hair, pressing her palms to her face. Beside her, Sensei Wu appraised her with a raised chin, eyes shadowed beneath his hat. "I'm sorry. But—I can't replace you. That's not what I'm made for. I was made to fill a gap, yes, but to fill the gap in _Father's _life. I was made because he wanted me to be his daughter when his _real _daughter was dead. The daughter who tried to save you but couldn't save herself. He wanted me to follow Angus through life, teach him stuff. He wanted me to be a follower in the Clockwork Army, a revolution from the Reckoning, but I was never meant to _replace, _just _fill."_

Sensei Wu touched her with the end of his cane. "Is there truly a difference?"

Caught off guard, Caroline raised her face, looking at him through her mislead eyes. "Wait—what?"

Wu walked around her in a circle, one arm behind his back, the other operating the walking cane with a prestigious, careful manner to him. He was examining Caroline as he shuffled around her in a widened circle; she turned her head and shoulders as she watched him go, looking for a reaction in his eyes but seeing only scrutiny. She wondered what he thought as he did. "You say you are for _filling, _but when replacing, aren't you filling a gap?"

"Poor choice of words," Caroline said of herself. "I'm not for replacing ice ninjas. I'm for being the next in line when the droid ahead of me dies. I'm not for being a ninja who will help an ultimate ninja defeat evil. I'm a robot who knows how to use a gun, and that's _it." _

Sensei nodded slowly. "I see. So who says that an ice ninja cannot use a gun?"

"I—I can't," Caroline continued, though she knew that she couldn't seem to get through to him. What would it take for Wu to see that there was nothing more? "I can't replace Zane."

"You're not replacing," Zane insisted, grabbing her hands from her face in a _very _human gesture. Distantly, Caroline remembered his humanity with a wince of regression, hating herself for comparing him as a _now _and _then. _He leaned close so all she could see was him, his eyes, the shadows over his face, the contours of his colorful skin. She saw the straightness of his nose, ending in the perfect sized round ball at the end. She saw the flecks of green in his white-blue eyes, and the individual white lashes lining his them like feathers. She saw his perfect cupid's bow, the way his hair had started to flop a little from its straight perfection onto his forehead; she saw the way he looked at her, with this look in his eyes she'd seen before but made her sick to think of. She turned her face away.

"Zane, I—you should know that I haven't been honest with you," she whispered. "You're not who you think you are."

"I know," Zane said to her surprise. She glanced at him in wonder. "In death I was able to remember the memories you erased of yourself from my chip. I'm not stupid," he added. "I remember our time together, Caroline. And I really wish you hadn't done that."

Caroline felt his arm slide around her back, something that made her feel good and bad at the same time. If she had a heart, it would've beaten like crazy. "But…why?"

"Because," Zane pressed his lips to her forehead, sending a human shiver through her, "I'd like to know who it is I've fallen in love with before I start a new day."

To many onlookers, their legacy of love is a mystery, something that they could not understand for lack of unknowing their history together on this world. But Zane and Caroline did indeed have happiness and love amongst them before there was ever a team of ninja, before there was ever a Kai, or a Jay, or a Lloyd, or even a Cole, who was the oldest of all the human ninjas. Even Sensei Wu, who watched them with a crinkle to the corner of his eyes and a satisfied smile to his lips. Wu was not completely aware of their entire journeys together even if Zane had revealed to him some tales of their adventures, for no one but the two could completely understand their past. Their past, a part of forever, a piece of time that lived in each body, although one was just a scrap pile now. It is unsaid in history how they fell in love; is there _really _a solution to that equation? Does one perhaps quite understand _exactly _how it works? No, no one does; it is a phenomena that warms our hearts to see and hear, more to experience. Likewise, no one had ever seen more love between nindroids before. As Zane pulled her close for a kiss no one could _quite_ understand to a personal level, Sensei Wu turned to look towards the sound of rustling coming from behind him, just in time to see the large black wolf arrive with his brother at the reigns—er, _hair. _

Wu was both startled and pleased.

"Wu!" Garmadon grinned like a maniac, an old man meeting his brother for what felt like the first time in life. As he disbanded the wolf along with two other forms, the wolf squealed and darted off back to the section where dirt ruled, its form growing smaller as it ran in fear of its taming. Garmadon ran to him to give him a large hug. "Good to see you, brother! Or…however. How are you here?"

"We haven't much time for explanations, brother," Wu replied, turning to the nindroids falling from embrace and to Kai and Lloyd, who gaped. Kai bent in a respectful gesture, while Lloyd stared with his mouth open.

"Sensei?" He asked hesitantly.

"Lloyd." Sensei smiled. He expected the boy to run to his arms, but Lloyd kept his distance, hovering uncomfortably at the edge of his vision. Kai stood against the cracked red earth, unable to cross anywhere else; Wu sighed deeply. He hadn't wanted any of his students to pass so quickly after his own falling, but now, there wasn't much to-do for either of them, now standing at his sides in eternal death. He pointed his cane at Lloyd. "You have the gems?"

Caroline produced from her pockets, as well as Zane, the three gems provided originally: Lightning, Ice, and Fire; Lloyd held out the thick brown Earth Gem. "Where's the Temple?" Lloyd asked warily, glancing around him. "I thought it was right here."

Kai rubbed his forehead. "This is _where _it's supposed to be!" He cried. "Sensei? Where is it?"

Sensei Wu shook his head, for this time, he had no answer. He had questions of his own, like where Jay and Cole were, but he thought not to ask in waste of breath and their quickly passing time. He glanced around, unsure of what to do next. Where could it be?

"How can you _lose _a Temple?" Kai asked. "Seriously. _Who _loses Temples?"

"Uh, us?" Lloyd answered, looking around.

"Perhaps it is because we are not all present?" Zane offered hopefully.

"If that's the case, Jay and Cole will be _murdered," _Lloyd grumbled. "They've been destroying stuff all day. I swear, I will kill them myself if I have to."

Caroline glanced around her, and thought, for a sick moment, _Maybe I won't have to be the ice ninja after all…_

**MISAKO**

Angry, she stood, taking no time running across the floor, her motherly instincts taking over as behind her, Lou wailed in agony. Since she was the only one without her hands bound, she was the only one liable to react, running towards them. Pythor hissed, ducking down to take his tongue to her face, but Misako ducked, striking out with her foot and catching him distinctly in the stomach. Foiled, Pythor bent over in agony. Misako used her elbow to jab his skull—which hurt her funny bone, but gave the unconscious results she had hoped for. The purple snake collapsed in all honest sleep at her feet while she forged on. She took the stick he'd been using as a pointer from his hands, quickly reacting with a spin, smacking Skales on the side of the head and knocking together the Fangpyre's heads. Equilibriums ruptured, the snakes wobbled dizzily on their feet. The Skullkins started to shift towards her, but she hit Nuckal aside with her stick and Kruncha into Samokai. They fell in unaccounted for heaps of bones on the ground. "My leg!" cried Kruncha.

"That's _my _leg!" Samokai argued.

"No, it's mine!"

Misako leaped over them. Using her stick, she took a swipe at Eloquim. "She was just a young _girl!" _She screamed angrily, swinging at him. The cloaked figure held up his hands, grabbing her stick, but she managed somehow to wrench it from him, using her foot to kick him in the stomach. Unreactive, Eloquim grabbed her ankle. With an angry howl, Misako smacked the stick to the side of his head. "LET ME GO!" She shrieked.

Kai appeared, grabbing her beneath her arms receptively and pulling her away from Eloquim as though she were a small child throwing a tantrum.

"_How could you?!" _She screamed. _"She was a little girl! A _little girl_! You're a monster!"_

"Yes, we've established that," Kai growled, and tried to wrench the stick from her hands. "Give me rope so I can tie her up!" He called to his army of _extremely _dimwitted villains.

The Overlord hovered vigorously above them. "Do something, fools!"

The stick was yanked from her grasp, leaving her weaponless in a time like this. She threw her legs out wildly, but that only made Kai angrier; he tossed her to the ground. "I'll do it myself!" He retrieved a piece of rope from the limp body of Skales. Misako tried to push herself up, but her discardment had hurt her side terribly. It ached and pounded. She could barely move. She had no defense against Kai as he unraveled the tangled rope, except for what bodily possessions she had in her advantage now, which was nearly nothing—

But, _wait. _

Misako moved before she had time to actually think. Reaching for her shoe, she fought through the violent throb in her side as she wrenched her tennis shoe from her foot. By the time she actually got it off, Kai had seen her movement, and was trying to yank it from her grasp. Quickly, she threw it, heart pounding in her ears, hands shaking. It sailed high in the air, and for a moment, she believed she was actually going to _hit _Kai, but her success was short lived. He moved to the side, letting it continuously sail through the air. "No!" She cried. Kai grabbed her, pulling her up roughly. She wrestled with him.

"You're a _prisoner—"_he began, but never finished.

_Goonnngggggggggggggggggg. _

Misako's shoe ricocheted off the bell, sending it knocking every which way, crying out as its large hook smacked the bell itself. The noise reverberated throughout the whole temple, shaking the Temple's standing pillars. The whole place shook as a light poured from the pool beneath the bell, shining so intensely, it was difficult to look at directly. Misako shielded her eyes as the blood red water became golden, emitting a light so powerful, it must've done something very, very important somewhere else.

**LLOYD**

"_What's happening?!" _Lloyd shrieked as the ground began to shake. It started to crack, each split in the earth shining from the inside out. Things around them began to fall, like the dead trees from Kai's section, and the healthy one's from Jay's. Overhead, the suns remained still, even in the ungodly turmoil happening beneath them. Caroline gave a shriek as she fell to the snow. Sensei Wu could barely keep his own natural footing against the earthquake beneath him. This was far worse than any earthquake Cole had ever caused, more than just a mere surface rupture; this was deeper within the surface of the ground, a tremor in the actual crust of the earth. Lloyd cried out as the ground parted between him and Kai. Startled, Kai reached for him. _"Lloyd!" _he yelled, but it was a little late of the moment. Bright, golden spirals poured out the ground, slithering around their ankles, like snakes wrapping around a tree. Caroline recoiled fearfully.

"Wait!" shouted Zane. "Look!" He pointed towards the land behind Kai, where it was slowly being blocked by a wall of golden, shimmering, yet continuing to form until there wasn't a way to see through it. Translucently, the world behind it disappeared. Kai stared in shock.

"Over there!" Lloyd pointed towards Sensei, where Jay's section was slowly being shut out by a similar wall. Slowly, the same paradox occurred behind both Lloyd _and _Zane and Caroline. They were being boxed in by these golden walls, which slowly began to gain features like designs of curls etched into their paint. The cracking earth beneath them was suddenly consumed in a light that pushed them upwards. "_Ahh!" _Lloyd shouted, heart pounding heavily in his ears while they were raised, the dirt and snow and grass falling away until they stood on a shining platform of gold. Pillars suddenly started rising from the ground just on either side of Sensei, and a doorway started to slink from the wall behind him, becoming a giant door of silver with the familiar marking of the eye carved into it. A steeple began to furnish from the tops of the walls, enclosing the space above their heads into a room, cutting off the four suns, so close to touch, from their vision. Everyone watched in amazement as the Temple of Light, looking almost exactly like the one that had given Lloyd his Elemental Powers, was reborn right beneath their feet. The bell sprouted from the ceiling, dangling just above a pool that slowly began to dip into the floor, filling itself with clear, clean water. Across the four walls, distanced widely from each other so the room was bigger than he could ever imagine, images painted themselves, each the head and shoulders of people Lloyd didn't know. He watched as across the wall behind Zane, men and women dressed in different white outfits, of all races and hair colors and face shapes, appeared. There was a brown haired man whose almond shaped eyes were the color of the ocean, with long, nappy black hair falling down his back. Four portraits away from him, the face of a woman began, with long, honey suckle hair and green eyes smiled, heavy black lashes rimming them, and a friendly heart shaped face. He watched as the whole wall turned into a mask of these portraits, flickering and disappearing, then returning. Some of them even _blinked, _their shoulders rising and falling like they were real. Finally, some distance from the bottom, Lloyd saw Zane's picture appear, where his portrait blinked and stared straight ahead, but breathed. He watched, gaping. _"Whoa," _he breathed.

Lloyd glanced behind Kai, who was staring backwards in amazement. All the different people appearing on the walls behind him wore similar red outfits as to the one Kai wore now. Then he realized, these were all the _past _Spinjiztu Masters. He gasped. "Whoa!" He said, louder this time. "Kai! Check it out!" He pointed to Kai's picture in the very corner of the wall. Kai raised his eyebrows.

"Wow. What a _crappy _picture of me," he commented. "I look fat. Do I really look that fat?"

Lloyd turned, watching the earth Spinjitzu Masters appear, his eyes resting on a familiar looking dark-haired girl in the photograph before Cole's, but not being able to picture where he'd seen her before. She had shoulder length dark hair, and dark eyes stared straight ahead, shoulders rising and falling with her breath. Lloyd cocked his head. "Weird," he muttered. "I swear I've seen her before…"

He glanced over towards Jay's elemental wall. Jay stared straight ahead, a divot still worked into his eyebrow, mouth still small and pinched as he stared confidently forward. Lloyd glanced back at Zane's blank portrait. Then to Kai's, where half of Kai's mouth pointed downward in that determined look of his. Cole's eyebrows ducked as Lloyd looked at his picture.

"Would you _look _at this place!" Caroline cried, awestruck. "This is _amazing!" _

Just as she said that, there was the sound of a distant, muffled cry. Sensei turned around, arm poised respectfully behind his back, as Jay appeared from nowhere, his form shifting and bubbling out of the air, from nothing at all. Jay looked startled for a moment. "Where—where am I? What's going on?!"

"Jay!" Kai cried, sounding happier than Lloyd had ever heard him. Jay glanced sideways, before giving a startled noise at the sight of all Wu, Kai, _and _Garmadon.

"What's going on?!" Jay repeated, poking Sensei with his finger.

"We're in the Temple of Light," Sensei explained, waving his staff around him Jay followed the tip of it with wide eyes as he soaked in the Temple. "We are here to inaugurate Caroline."

"Uh, _what?" _said a voice from behind Lloyd. He whirled to find Cole wiping his jaw, staring around him in bewilderment.

Lloyd smiled. "Cole," he breathed.

Cole's gaze flickered towards him. "Hey, pipsqueak."

Lloyd turned to Sensei, but caught Jay instead, glaring angrily at Cole, like there was murder afoot. "Don't you dare!" Lloyd bolted across the floor just in time to catch Jay's lightning bolt in his hands, clasping it between them, forcing the power into himself. Jay's eyebrows raised.

"Nice reflexes," he commented.

"This _is not _a place for violence," Lloyd said. "You are _not _fighting in here."

"But!" Jay pointed at Cole. "But he's a vampire!"

"Whatever," Lloyd rolled his eyes, turning to Sensei while Jay claimed he was serious. "Sensei, what do we do next? What do you mean by _inaugurate Caroline?_"

"Get in," Sensei gestured towards the pool below the bell without answering his last question. "Caroline must step inside, and the bell _must _be rung by you, Lloyd. After which we will merely examine what happens."

Caroline looked as though she was being held at gunpoint. She would've paled if blood ran through her system. Zane pressed a hand gently to her back, forcing her towards the pool, digging her heels in. She shook her head. "I—I _can't!" _She gasped. "I _can't _replace you," she told Zane. "I can't do this."

"_Whoa, _wait, _replace?" _Jay repeated. "What do you mean, _replace?" _

Ignoring him, Sensei dismissed all confused comments from there out, holding out his hand in gesture for Caroline to go. "Time is ticking," he said wisely. "We don't want to put all these hardships to waste."

Caroline swallowed hard. Zane pressed his mouth to her hair, murmuring something Lloyd couldn't hear, before giving her another gentle shove forward, like a mother nudging her baby out of the nest. Lloyd took it upon himself to, despite all confusions, help Caroline face this—whatever _this _was. He walked towards her slowly, his golden shoes making satisfying noises against the ground, the only noise to be heard besides the heavy breathing of every still ninja, daring not move. He stopped in front of her, taking in her wide eyes for just a minute. He compared himself to her, as she had been him once; he remembered every fear he'd felt at the thought of fighting his own father. Slowly, Lloyd Garmadon reached out his gloved hand, leaving out his right one for fear of the power it possessed. Caroline stared at it for a second longer before slowly, shakily, reaching up her hand and placing it in his.

Heart pounding, Lloyd led her towards the pool. Caroline hovered at the edge of the pool, then squeezing her eyes shut. She gnawed on her lip. "I can't do this," she whispered to Lloyd. "I can't."

Lloyd squeezed her hand comfortingly, letting a little heat from his fiery hand travel through him to her. "Can't?" He repeated almost absentmindedly. "Can't isn't a word where we come from."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lloyd saw Kai smile.

Caroline took a deep breath, lifting her foot. Then, with her eyes squeezed shut, she let go of Lloyd's hand, and jumped.

She fell deeper in than Lloyd expected, completely falling down past her head, but Lloyd could see the top of her red head through the scheme of the water. He looked to Sensei, and with the nod of his head, Sensei commanded Lloyd to jump. He took a running start, jumping off the side of the wall, flying through the air as he had before; when his foot hit the bell, there was a loud crack of the _gonngggg. _The noise shuffled throughout the Temple. Zane tossed Cole his Gem, then Kai, and Jay. The light falling from the bell illuminated the water.

"Guys!" Zane yelled over the sound of the gong. "Take your gem and focus your power into it!"

Around him, one by one, Lloyd watched each ninja close their eyes and focus hard on their separate gems. Then, slowly, each gem's power started to spear outwards in gentle rays towards the bell, which then bounced off of it, creating a multi-colored tornado around the pool. Lloyd stepped back as each color turned into the element it represented: The red erupted into flames, while the blue turned into bursts of electricity; the dirt flying from Cole's black string and Zane's white ice circling Caroline's captivity swirled faster as they combined, each of them surrounding Caroline's pool. Lloyd stared in wonder with the assumption that he should focus his light powers on her.

Just before Sensei could tell him to, Lloyd did. Each element became bright, stronger than ever before. Through the turmoil, Caroline's body lifted from the pool, surrounded with each element. Caroline looked around her in baffled uncertainty, watching her feet, swinging them a little from her eerie suspended position high in the air. Caroline's eyes met with Lloyd's through the twister around her. She looked alarmed.

"Ancestors!" Zane shouted. Lloyd looked at him. "I beg you to give me permission to transfer my powers of ice to Caroline, my fellow nindroid, in hopes that she can continue my legacy and help the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master defeat the Greater Evil in the Great Battle! What say you?"

For a moment, there was nothing. Lloyd felt like Zane was just talking to air as Caroline continued to be enveloped in the tornado, waiting patiently. But then, the bell above her began to glow again, and this time, the wall behind Zane did, too. Voices from all directions, muffled voices, combined voices, voices of the same tune began to speak, saying things that Lloyd couldn't quite understand. Jay looked completely mortified at the sound of the voices speaking. "You guys hear that too, right?" He asked, though no one answered.

Then, slowly, for some reason, there were white mists that began to form throughout the Temple, forms in which started to take shape not too long after. He saw the people whose pictures were featured on the wall begin to mold. Lloyd was awestruck. It was an amazing sight to see unwrap around him. Jay jumped uncomfortably at the monk who appeared from beside him. "Uh…Oh, gosh…Um…"

Then, each of these ghosts held up their hands, palms facing outwards and in the direction of Caroline. She looked around her, startled. Beside Lloyd, the happy woman he'd glimpsed on the wall, the one with the brown hair and heart shaped face, smiled at him before turning to Caroline and taking on a similar hand formation. Her voice rose loud and clear above the noise in the Temple. "We, the Spinjitzu Masters of the Ice Element before you, Zane Sigur Montgomery, grant you permission to transfer your powers to Caroline Alyssa Juliens, in order to ensure the Great Battle is won in the favor of the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master!"

"_Aye!" _called the rest of the ghosts in unison. The elements of fire, lightning, and earth slowly returned to the gems of each current Spinjitzu Master, where they each jerked back a step with the force of the powers' return. Kai flapped his hand at the burn.

The ice element around Caroline became stronger. Lloyd could feel the power flowing from the hands of each of the deceased Masters, adding to the once-thin rail of ice Zane had let from the little elemental stamina he had left. Lloyd watched his shoulders sag at the lack of power as it drained from his body. Caroline gasped. "It's so cold!" She exclaimed. "Zane, I'm cold! I—I can't feel my hands!"

"It'll be alright," Zane said tiredly. His body drooped further downwards as he struggled for breath. "It will be…just fine."

Soon, there was a complete tornado of ice surrounding Caroline, something they couldn't see the slightest through. Light poured through the ice, just barely making her dark shape visible, though Lloyd's hopes couldn't lift. The ghosts slowly shifted and withered away, but their powers stayed, lingering forcefully. Caroline was transforming just beyond this wall dividing them. Power pulsed from her. He lifted his hands to his face to shield himself from the light as it grew brighter until—

The ice shield shattered into a million pieces.

Lloyd was thrown back next to Cole, almost knocking him over if Cole hadn't put out his hands to stop him from hitting the wall. Shielding themselves from the shards, they waited until they weren't hit with anything to finally raise their eyes past their arms. Before them stood Caroline, the water frozen beneath her feet, sheathed completely in the same outfit Zane had worn only minutes before her. She stood tall, her eyelids squeezed shut. In her hands she held two shurikens, two just like Lloyd had watched Zane whip around before. With her skin a milky cream, her hair had grown to her waist, transforming from their waves to full-blown red curls, gorgeously framing her face. Her shoulder blade protectors were in the form of gears all clambered together into a protective, technological looking mechanism. Her uniform carried tendrils of ice shards around her, matted into the fabric as part of the design, ever gleaming, ever frozen. She peeked through her eyelashes to look around her at the ruined, water soaked Temple.

"Am I alive?" She asked quietly. Lloyd glanced around. Everyone was sprawled on the floor, starting to rise from the sleep. Kai rubbed his forehead. Jay's eyes were the size of baseballs, flung backwards, pressed hard against the wall behind him. Cole and Lloyd rose from the ground in painful positions. Sensei Wu and Garmadon were helping each other to stand.

And Zane, lying on the floor, unmoving, unrising, with his eyes closed, and a faint smile to his lips.

"_Zane!" _Lloyd shouted. Everyone looked to him at the same moment in time. Kai pressed his hands hurriedly against the invisible forcefield preventing him from running outside of his element and into Zane's while everyone else, excluding Garmadon, ran for the fallen nindroid with a fear plantation in their hearts. Although no one seemed to notice their absence, Lloyd somewhat dimly noticed it, but there was hardly the feeling in his heart. Caroline began to give tearless sobs.

"I _knew _this was a bad idea! KNEW IT! Oh, Zane, I'm sorry…"

Lloyd's heart stopped, watching Zane's eyes remain closed, even after everyone huddled around him and called to him, even after they tugged on his shirt, even after they began to cry because they thought they'd lost him again. _Can't he live in peace?! _Lloyd thought, burying his face into his hands. With everyone around him feeling so dead inside, watching this happen over and over again—was there really such a cruel world combining them to keep taking Zane from them? Was this punishment to him for living so many times? Where was the peace in that?

"Zane, you idiot…why do you have to keep _dying?" _Jay whispered, tears starting to fall.

Zane groaned. Everyone held their breath. Not too soon after, his eyelids fluttered exhaustedly. Lloyd could feel his breath rush out of him. He hadn't realized, until then, that it hurt to hold his breath like that. "I….I am fine. Just a little tired, that's all."

"_Oh," _Caroline whispered, rubbing his cheek. "Oh, Zane!" She started to laugh, holding his head in her lap. He fumbled for her hand. That was when Lloyd noticed the way his eyes softened at the sight of her, the way his body relaxed just enough to enforce the blatant meaning of the word _rapture. _He took her in like she was the only thing he ever wanted to see in his life. He smiled every time he looked at her. It was something that Lloyd saw whenever Jay used to look at Nya, this obvious love that fluttered between them.

"Look at you," he said throatily. Then Lloyd finally noticed his street clothes. He didn't have on the ninja suit anymore, but just jeans and a sweatshirt, replacing what extravagant luxuries he'd had before, articles of clothing Caroline now wore herself. "You're a ninja now."

Caroline dropped her head. "I don't want to replace you," she whispered. Zane affectionately reached towards her and cupped her cheek, stroking her soft skin with gentle swipes of his thumb.

"You're not replacing," he murmured. "Just filling."

As some internal joke, Caroline laughed, ignoring the tears gathered in her eyes. Lloyd couldn't help but smile, too, until he looked down at his hands. "Oh, _no," _he gasped. "The suns!"

His hands, taking on a translucent viscosity. He was starting to be able to see right through them to the floor beneath him. Jay looked at his own body, breathing in a repulsed heave of air. Lloyd could start to see right through him. "The suns must be combining!" Cole hawked.

"No, you think?" Jay snapped. "I thought the Apocalypse was starting."

"Shut _up!" _Lloyd yelled, sick of it. He turned to Kai, standing beside troubled Garmadon, who was also peculiarly starting to transparetize. He glanced up, wrinkled face becoming scrunched in misunderstanding. Wu helped himself to his feet with the bamboo staff.

"We must prepare in goodbyes," Wu announced quietly. Everyone rose, helping the exhausted Zane to his feet, rubbing the heels of his hands against his eyes. Jay told Kai and Garmadon they could cross into his section with a proud puff of his chest, finally understanding this was the _real _Kai, but while Lloyd waited patiently for Zane to let him into his section, there was an awkward silence. Kai raised his eyebrow—but not at Zane. He looked at _Caroline._

"You're the Ice Ninja," he said. "Let me in."

Caroline winced and muttered they could. She clung to Zane, and with everyone gathered in a circle around one another, it was time for desperate, last-minute goodbyes to take place. Zane detached himself self-hatedly from Caroline to stand beside Kai and Sensei, watching from a small little line across from the living ninjas.

"How can we leave you?!" Jay yowled. "Kai, Zane, Sensei—you have to come with us!"

Sensei Wu shook his head. "Our journeys are over, my students. We cannot travel any further past here."

"But you're _Sensei!" _Jay waved his arms in the air. "You have a long white _beard!" _

Sensei smiled faintly. He turned to Lloyd, hand poised behind his back. As Lloyd began to fade away at a still intervalled pace, he reached out to put that free hand against the green ninja's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Lloyd," he said quietly. "We all do things we regret."

"Sensei, I never meant to," Lloyd said hurriedly. "It was an accident. And I know that doesn't change anything, but—"

"You are not the reason I have died, Lloyd," Sensei murmured. Lloyd found himself pausing in his hysterics. "There is something far worse that ended my life."

"Wait…What?"

Sensei glanced heavenwards. "I have not much time to say," he admitted defeatedly. "But there is a secret between you all that you must reveal." Sensei took the time to glance into each of the eyes of each ninja. "I want you all to say _everything _to each other—and soon—or these secrets you hide can—and will—be used against you. Eloquim will not yield for you. He will try his best to destroy you, and strength in love and family is what will save you. Without secrets bending you, then he cannot use them against you, as he already has." Wu's gaze fell on Jay and Cole, who bowed their heads in solemn apology. "Even if the truth hurts, Lloyd"—Wu squeezed his almost nonexistent shoulder one last time—"you must say it."

Sensei backed away as Lloyd's feet started to fade away. The same existed in Jay, Cole, and Caroline; they all gave noises of surprise. "_No_!" Jay yelled, but it was too late. His mid-half was gone, leaving him a top of nothing. He reached forward for their deceased friends, but a second later, there wasn't a Jay to look at. Caroline called out to Zane, "I promise I'll be as good as you someday! I'll make you proud!"

"You already have," Zane whispered, even after she'd gone.

Cole looked to Sensei. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Sensei blinked in forgiveness. Lloyd didn't want to fade. He couldn't leave his friends here, even as his father started to disappear too, falling into nothing. Lloyd ran towards Kai and threw what left of his arms he had around the fire ninja. Startled, it took Kai a second to respond, but his returning hug was strong, fearless.

"Kai!" He gasped. "Kai, no! I can't leave you! What will I do without you? It's already too hard…"

"You'll be the _best _ninja there ever was," Kai pushed him back to look into his eyes. Lloyd shared a bond with Kai, as he always had, that he'd never shared with _any_one before. Kai was his older brother, the person he confided in more than he asked himself to listen. The fire ninja had always been there for him, always protecting, always promising another day for Lloyd. Without Kai, Lloyd didn't feel like he knew which way to go without his best friend there to guide him. He watched Kai's face remain strong, watched his expression stay confident, because Kai _believed _in Lloyd. He knew he'd do it, even when the going got tough.

"We'll always be here for you," Kai ruffled Lloyd's hair, "even if you can't see us."

"_Kai_!" Lloyd's hands disappeared. Frightened, he stared into Kai's eyes, but Kai just smiled sadly at him, though there was heavenly strength behind it that he'd soon give to Lloyd, even after he'd left him standing beside Sensei and Zane. But for now, Kai could only hope. Hope there was always going to be another day—all because of Lloyd.

"Love you, kiddo," Kai said quietly, and Lloyd felt the rest of him fade away into the air. He felt like he was being sucked back into a vacuum cleaner, travelling in circles back up the vortex tube, surrounded in darkness he couldn't name. He screamed the whole way up, knowing he'd left his best friend, teacher, and beloved nindroid hanging in the snow as the Temple began to fade away, too, after the departure of the green ninja and his friends. There was no telling what the future held now; there were so many evils arising at once, so many beginning without any promise of an end. Lloyd knew somewhere in his heart that this wasn't going to be an easily completed uphill battle. There were people he had to save, people who inhabited the whole world, distant families, the groups and nations of others. Friends, even. Friends he hadn't met yet. And he knew, deep in his heart, that he, Lloyd Garmadon, the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, would do _whatever _it took to make sure that those people would be saved.

This Lloyd swore.

**And, as a little side announcement:**** You guys need to keep your eyes open for a little spinoff story, which I **_**think**_** will be called, "Dawn of the Nindroids." It will be **_**completely **_**about Zane's LIFE! Starting with a prologue about him as a child growing up alongside Rikku, then as he grew up, trying to understand how to grow up, and then we'll kick off into catching his sickness, when Julien comes in and asks to fix him and whatever, and then we'll meet Caroline from **_**life **_**and learn about how Julien makes his droids! How does that sound, you guys? Should I do it? ****Tell me what you think!**

**I hope I touched your heart a little in this chapter—how do you think you'd feel if you had to leave your loved ones behind in a world you don't understand? :/ None to good, I'd imagine!**

**WHAT TO EXPECT FROM NEXT CHAPTER: Well…I would think Clockwork Army revelations, FINALLY! XD YAY! WE GET TO LEARN! But…Julien was kidnapped! *gasp* Will the ninja go save him alongside Rikku and their new Sensei? **

_**Please **_**review, I love hearing your feedback, and go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night! Scream at your greens! Smack bells and hope you just opened a gateway for Lloyd! :D**

**As always, my awesome friends, **

**Kairi**


	19. Chapter 18: PASSION & DANGER

_I named this after my favorite Vampire Diaries score piece by Michael Suby, "Passion & Danger," which inspired the majority of this chapter. _

**Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is **_**super short **_**and I don't have much of an intro, but I want to tell you guys about my stupid little 1-chapter spinoff of TAOT (Not the "Dawn of the Nindroids" yet. :() I was really bored yesterday and just started writing it, but it's called "NO WAY OUT," which is a story about Seiko, Cole's sister, and the day that Kai kidnaps her! Maybe you'll find it interesting, maybe you'll find it lame, or maybe you'll get a little insight of the mind of insanity. :3 You'll have to read to find out! :D**

**Okay. I'll shuts me flappers now so you can read. ^^**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_18. Passion and Danger_

SUNLIGHT DRIFTED through Lloyd's eyelids, gently pounding against the doors blocking his vision as he slept. Groggily, he felt them open, watching the blur of the bunk above him, blocking his vision. The joints on his fingers ached miserably from clutching the covers so tightly beneath his chin. It was hard for Lloyd to completely wrap his head around everything that had happened, for an unjust moment; had it all been a dream? He wondered this while he tried to unlock his body from its taut informal fetal position, buried beneath the awkward shelter of his woolen covers. He kicked them off with pained muscles only to turn his body and find everyone else lying on his floor, reawakening from their dark travel to the Elemental Realm.

Everyone had returned with their ninja suits, clinging tightly to their bodies. Lloyd blinked away the painful sun from his eyes. _Ouch, _he thought, watching Cole sit up from his painful position splayed across the floor. Dried blood mysteriously caked his upper lip. He poked at it with downward pointed eyebrows, darkly hidden beneath his side-swept bangs. "What the…?" He murmured, shaking his head as though to rid himself of the odd memories he'd suffered through.

Jay engaged in a coughing fit, sitting up quickly with his sudden hacking. "Oh—" he coughed "my gosh—" He buried his face into the comfort of his hands with a tight shiver shuddering through him.

Caroline sat up from behind him, holding onto his shoulders for support in case her tipsy form decided it wanted to fall. Dressed in Zane's ninja suit, Caroline looked tough, auburn hair in long curlicues cascading down her shoulders. Her hazel irises glowed beneath her half lidded eyes in her startled stupor, though Lloyd could sense a sick realization flooding into the room as all of them finally glanced down at themselves and noticed the ninja suits—and their lack of Kai, Zane, or even the beloved Sensei Wu. Lloyd's heart wrenched, knowing he'd left them behind. He wanted to cry, but figured he'd done enough of that over the unlawful span of just a few prolonged days. As the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, there wasn't much time to waste on emotions, but somehow Lloyd managed to find multiple opportunities crammed between battles and epic events to spare himself the shed of a tear or two. He felt like a failure, yet again, for being so weak when it came to the people he loved. Wasn't it his job to remain countlessly strong through it all? Lloyd was meant to be a role model, yet he found even _Jay _to be stronger than he was, which could be considered a far worse fare than when he was compared to, say, Kai. He squeezed his eyes shut for a brief, solemn moment with the wish that when he opened his eyes, everything he'd experienced would fade away and become just a dream, but it didn't disappear as easily as he'd hoped. He gave a strangled sound and threw his legs over the side of the bed.

Jay drug his hands down his face, then back up, repeating the cycle numerous times before turning to Lloyd. His eyes were red. He briefly met the green ninja's eyes before letting his elbows rest on his bent knees, hands dangling between them, staring at the floor with the endless, numb spark inside of them. Behind him, Cole sighed, avoiding looking at the cerulean form of the blue ninja, instead glancing anywhere in the room but him. His black, earthbound ninja outfit stretched fittedly across his toned body, black boot heels set against the floor. "Jesus," he muttered, admitting defeat in the fight to get the blood from his lip. He rubbed his eyes. "This is pretty messed up."

Caroline looked around, her whole body shaking awfully. Widened eyes captured the fated essence as evidence that she was starting to finally understand. Holding her hands in front of her face, she examined them with heaving shoulders. "What have I done?" She whispered in a cracked, tortured voice. Every eye in the room turned to her. "I can't be a ninja. What was he thinking?"

"With the right training," Lloyd found his voice was hoarse, sounding so much unlike him, he sounded as though he were someone else completely. He cleared his throat before taking a step further into his justified pep-talk. "I think you could do just fine."

Caroline looked up at him with what looked like shiny eyes. Lloyd tried to offer a smile, but it was a little hard to give what he didn't have. She nodded like she knew just what his befuddled mouth movements meant—which, knowing the new nindroid, she probably did. Cole ran his hands through his still wet hair. "What are we going to do now?" He asked quietly, unsure of what much he could say after such an erratic event. Lloyd opened his mouth to respond, not even sure of what to answer with, when Jay beat him to the punch.

Jay's feet climbed beneath him as he stood up. He stared to the doorway, eyes glittering with unshed tears he didn't want to give but knew he should, a feeling Lloyd knew more than anyone else. It was something he seemed to be experiencing on a daily basis now, with a heart that had taken a hundred too many beatings. Jay dusted off his arms uncomfortably like there was dirt on his shirt when he was clean just as fine. "Well, I don't know about you guys," Jay said so quietly it was difficult to decide if he actually spoke or Lloyd had just imagined it. "But I think that I'm heading out."

He walked right out. Lloyd had just enough time to exchanged frightened glances with Caroline and Cole before they all simultaneously got to their feet to run after him. He was halfway down the hall, adjusting the cuff of his shirt when they caught up to him. Lloyd grabbed his arm to turn him around. "Hey!" He forced Jay to face him, look him in the eye. Even though they'd just slept off their lives, Jay looked tired, weak against the weight of the air pressing down on him. "What do you mean, heading out? Jay, seriously."

"You know, I…" Jay shook his head. Cole didn't stand close enough to him to imply their forgotten friendship, but close enough to show he cared; Jay ignored him completely and spoke directly to Lloyd. "I need…some time. To think."

Lloyd knew his face held all signs of horror possible, but Jay continued, looking instead to the floor rather than the eyes of his fellow ninjas. "This is just too much for me. I need…_time. _I know that's a lot to ask for right now, but…But with Kai, a-and…and _Nya, _I just…" He shook his head, closing his eyes to force back tears. Jay's Adam's apple bobbed beneath his chin in one hard movement. "I'm sorry, Lloyd, but I…I need this. I—"

"You're _running away?!" _Cole burst in, stepping closer. His nostrils flared, eyes wide with what Lloyd determined was shock and anger. Lloyd couldn't find himself too short of the finish line there, but his reaction time didn't come as quickly as some may have been granted. Jay didn't raise his eyes, but acknowledged the statement, running his fingers through his hair.

"Yes," he said blatantly. Lloyd stepped back like Jay had slapped him. Jay's voice dipped an octave quieter. "I am running away."

Cole stared, aghast.

"Look, you haven't left me much of a choice, anyway," Jay added, louder, finally allowing himself the tenancy to look Cole straight in the eye. That was where Lloyd observed the flinch from the ninja of earth, saw the way he recoiled under the difficult heaviness of Jay's stare. "I-I have to think. I _need _to think. Sort out…everything." Jay turned to Lloyd, grabbing his hands from his sides, where which they hung limply in their startled dazes. He could feel everything slipping away from him quickly, losing everything so fast his head spun every time he looked at something else. Everyone was disappearing like water through his fingers, there once, gone the next. In the end it felt like Lloyd would have no one to turn to once everything was over, once whatever was coming his way had finally finished. Jay's thumbs pressed hard against the center of his palm, fingers stroking the uncanny mark on the back of his hand, skimming over his veins. Lloyd stared into Jay's green eyes watching him plead with him like it was _Lloyd's _choice. "I'm so, so sorry," he whispered. "I just can't do this anymore."

Lloyd was speechless. His jaw worked in ways to try and form some kind of message, words for this irrevocably painful situation, but someone had shut off his vocal cords' functions. He couldn't find himself able to say anything, just shake his head at Jay, but there was only the mild squeeze of the hand that could respond to him. "You can do this, Lloyd," Jay whispered quietly. "Remember what Sensei said. The love of your family and friends is everything now. And know, in your heart"—Jay flipped over Lloyd's hand, revealing the tattoo of the eye that saved his life, tapping it with the tip of his finger. His voice dropped to a whisper as he met Lloyd's gaze directly—"that I love you. And that is why I have to let you go."

Then Jay released his hands, turning briskly on his heel. He pressed his hand briefly to Caroline's shoulder, taking in her shocked expression for less than a second before he began down the hall again, taking slow strides, shoulders slumped forward while he walked away. He turned onto the stairs, and without even so much as a glance back at Lloyd, Caroline, or Cole, Jay left them standing painfully in the middle of the hallway with their hearts cracked raw and bleeding out through their insides.

And he never looked back.

"_You are your own person. Your choices_

_affect as you are and who you will become._

_And it is through those choices I can determine_

_a truth in you: I know that you love me, _

_even though I am not the best of brothers; _

_yet we continue on through this life with our heads_

_held high and hearts on our sleeve. But I must _

_ask you, my friend, my flesh and blood:_

_How is it we can tell there was ever emotion behind_

_These words you promise me?"_

_-Gordon Dean, "A Cellist Dream"_

_(_written Dec. 14th, 2012, for Caroline R. Leone, 1997-2011)


	20. Chapter 19: SOUNDS LIKE CLOCKWORK

**TRACKS BY JAY VINCENT AS INSPIRATION: **_the Memory Switch, Meet Lloyd Garmadon_

**Sorry I don't have much of an intro, I have some sleeping to do. SOOOO…:3 Enjoy the 19****th**** chapter of THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT! ^^**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_19. Sounds Like Clockwork_

"CAROLINE! CAROLINE!" SHOUTED AN unfamiliar voice from somewhere beyond Lloyd's perception of hearing, stolen from him by the breathless winds of shock he'd felt too often by now. Numb and horrifically forlorn, Lloyd turned to the opposite end the hallway in which Jay had used to abandon them to find himself looking at a man, no more than a day over twenty, jogging lightly down the hallway. Lloyd's face shriveled at the sight of him. Not once in his life had he ever seen the young man, dressed in brown pants that could only ever be described as "trousers" with suspending belts over the shoulders of his button down white dress shirt. A messy ponytail of wavy brown hair down his back was becoming undone one small wisp at a time as he jogged towards them. For some reason, Lloyd wanted to say he looked like someone he knew, but shook away the idea. Cole turned and watched him with a wide mouth, while Caroline pushed around Lloyd to run to him. Cole gave Lloyd a raised eyebrow. "You know who that is?" he muttered from the corner of his mouth.

"Only if you do," Lloyd muttered back, earning a shake of the head from Cole. For one brief second, he forgot about Jay's invention of the game _Whim Deserting_ to focus long enough on the mystery man whom Caroline seemed to know when no one else did. She met him halfway through the hall, stopping him in a pause of mid-stride. The man glanced over her head at Cole and Lloyd while she murmured something to him under her breath. He responded equally as quietly, his hand fondly lingering on her arm as he bent to listen to her response. Lloyd's face shriveled further.

"What do you think they're saying?" Lloyd muttered.

"'He's awakened,'" Cole murmured.

"What?"

"'What do you suppose we do?'" Cole said without answering him. It took Lloyd a disdainful moment to realize that he was _repeating _what Caroline and the man were saying. Mind blown, Lloyd glanced between him and the other two, unsure of the possibilities.

"How can you hear them?" He asked, but Cole never answered that, either, focusing his gaze hard on Caroline as he mimicked their conversation solely though his ears. It didn't quite make sense how it was possible, but Lloyd allowed himself to forget it with the self-taught lesson that he was being given the opportunity to eavesdrop. "'I figure we might as well introduce my friends to him,'" Cole murmured, pointing at Caroline without extending his whole arm. His finger moved to the mysterious, good-looking man. "'There's more,'" he murmured. "'I cannot seem to locate Julien. He left to get a glass of coffee and never returned. I fear he is no longer within my radius' scanner.'" Cole frowned, moving his finger towards Caroline. "'What do you mean?' 'I mean, I do not believe he is aboard the ship anymore.' 'Oh no!' 'Yes. I believe there has been a kidnapping under my nose; I am sorry, Caroline, I have failed.'" Cole glanced at Lloyd with the inconspicuous roll of his eyes. "Well, he's definitely _not _a total droid," Cole said sarcastically. He straightened to his regular height, abandoning the crooked posture, to begin walking towards them. After a moment's hesitation, Lloyd followed, picking up his pace to meet the turning Caroline and mystery man.

"Cole, Lloyd," Caroline's eyes seemed too wide to maintain the façade of normal, "this is Rikku Montgomery. He is a member of the Clockwork Army. I haven't much time to explain these unfortunate events, but my father is missing, and we must work with our abilities to find him."

"Wait," Lloyd interjected, wracking his memory for the source of those familiar terms. He remembered Caroline had said something about a Clockwork Army in the Elemental Realm, but under the stressing tension, he hadn't been able to give it much thought. Now, he made at least two mental connections with her words and the name _Montgomery, _which rang too familiar on the very tip of his tongue, a burn waiting for him to heal. "Clockwork Army. You've said that before. What is that, exactly?"

Caroline looked at Rikku, who was about Cole's height, half a head taller than she. Only after a fleeting moment she turned back to Lloyd. "Come with me," she began jogging down the hallway. "I will explain as much as I can, but we must hurry. I can't sense my father anywhere near."

Cole and Lloyd took off after her; Rikku remained in tail at a slow, steady pace. When she reached the end of the hall, she beckoned for the boys to follow her into a small wedge between the final bedroom and the end of the boat that he never would've discovered, had she not revealed it to them. Lloyd and Cole exchanged weary glances before slithering in after her. They were led down a dark, cramped hallway with many twists and turns before emerging into a hidden room, one Lloyd hadn't expected to see. Inside, there were many caskets, strewn about with their lids open, all dressed in a fine mahogany design, but even to Lloyd's surprise there was more to the room than met the eye. He breathed a moan meaning he was unsure of what to say, glancing around at this secret fortress around him. At the very end of the room, he caught sight of a work bench, cluttered with tools and objects, but what caught his sight was not the variety of handiworks available. He saw Zane's robotic form lying useless there, covered by a white towel across his lower half, feet sticking from underneath like he was prepared to be dissected by a coroner. It was not Zane's body that made his attention stay, either. It was the man standing hunched over the body, a man dressed in white robes, held together by a single black belt across his middle. A sun hat of straw covered the top of his head, and as he heard the unexpected visitors he turned around expectantly, hands poised behind his back in a wise way. His long white beard extended down his middle, lips curling upwards in a friendly smile. He blinked at them.

Cole and Lloyd wasted no time.

"_Sensei!" _they yelled, weaving through the caskets to practically knock him over across Zane's lifeless body, a brutal reminder that Zane was now existing in an alternate universe. Cole and Lloyd wrapped their arms around the form of the old man, and as Lloyd pulled back, he could feel a difference to this situation that may not have been so odd if they hadn't just abandoned Wu in the Elemental Realm.

"How are you here?" Cole asked first, looking as though there was a block of gold being offered to him by this old man.

Sensei smiled at them. "I have been recreated by Julien's gifted technologies," he said. "I am here to help you, Lloyd."

"H-help me?" Lloyd shivered as realization dawned on him: Sensei was a _nindroid. _

The old man's eyes closed in a motion of acceptance. "I am here to help train you—and Caroline, for that matter—so you can better learn how to harness this new power within you." Without his staff, Sensei was forced to use his hand to tap Lloyd's arm. "There are destinies ahead of you that not even I quite understood."

Lloyd trembled, dropping his gaze to his hands. "Sensei, I—"

"Chit-chat later," Sensei said, "but for now, we need to awaken the rest of the Army." He turned to Caroline, extending a large golden key towards her, grasping it tightly within his hand. From the other side of the room, even Lloyd could visibly see her body rise at the sight of it. _Must be some sacred key, _he thought as she, followed by Rikku's slow, observant form, wove through the caskets to reach for it. Now that he wasn't distracted by hugging his new nindroid Sensei, he was well able to visually examine these caskets. Inside each was a body, some different person poised with their hands laid gently across their chests. In the nearest protection from the dirt of a grave, Lloyd leaned forward to look at the face of a young boy, perhaps no older than thirteen, with a wave of light blonde hair hanging across his head. His eyes were closed, round face still, dressed in a T-shirt with worn jeans laying gently inside the white padded casket. Branded over his middle left finger was a fat golden ring, marked with some kind of odd design. His nose was fat and plump at the middle of his face. Thin lips rested gently beneath it. He reached down to touch the smooth, realistic skin of the boy, shuddering at how real it felt. Written across the inside casket lid, written in calligraphic black material, was the name Sylvester E. Whitward. Lloyd looked down at the boy again.

"Sylvester," he murmured, testing the name on his lips.

"Called him Sylver," said a deep voice from behind him. Lloyd whirled to come face to face with Rikku, standing beside him quietly, hands braced across the side of the casket with clutching white knuckles. Rikku flipped a wave of brown hair from his face. "Was quite the kid, Sylver Eustace Whitward was. Had to him a knowledge of books and lore that you wouldn't imagine finding. Why, I remember the first time I met him, he was writing me off a correction with every date and name of a plant I got wrong." Rikku shook his head. His defined jaw, perfecting his oval face, clenched briefly before the older man straightened, tapping the side of the casket in a familiar tune. Lloyd frowned as he tried to recall it with failure. "Poor boy, never saw it coming for him."

"Saw what coming for him?" Lloyd asked slowly. Rikku met him with pale white eyes, a shade he had seen not too long ago in his lifetime.

"The Sickness," Rikku spoke of it as though it were a curse. His handsome face contorted into an ugly mask of hate, spite. "It is what took us all. Every last one of us."

"Sickness?"

Rikku nodded. "Called it Arachnaeus, they did. Was spreading quickly throughout the village. It didn't take much to catch it; contact with a victim, touching something they touched. No one left the house for fear of getting it. People starved in their homes for weeks, months. Migration was often an end result, but you can't escape it. It follows you." Rikku shuttered.

"Wait…" Lloyd felt emotion rising within him like bread in an oven. It inflated his insides with a helium-like effect, broiling over in the kettle within him. "Did you say 'Arachnaeus'?" When Rikku nodded, he took a deep breath to try and startle away his fears. "I had that."

Rikku looked genuinely interested. "So you're a droid?"

Lloyd shook his head, resting his hand against Sylvester's casket. "No." He felt his breath escape him in a drawn out moan until there was not a drop left in his lungs.

"Then how could you stand here today?" Rikku motioned to Lloyd, shorter than him. Lloyd had to look up to be able to see his eyes. For a droid, he looked with emotion, his confusion masking his features. "No one survived Arachnaeus. Not even I."

Lloyd rubbed his neck. "It's…hard to explain," he said finally. "Let's just say I had a little help from some magic." He glanced outwards to see Caroline lifting the panels from the chests and stomachs of the captive casketed people, using the key to some master effect within. There were various _clicks _of switches as she activated certain functions from within the mechanical workings of the droids placed gently in these homely beds. Lloyd watched as she moved from casket to casket, within each she left an arm raising or a leg lifting; she was _awakening _them. He realized this is what Rikku must've meant when he said "He's awakened" in the hallway. He should've been referring to Sensei Wu, who watched Caroline with a certain respect on his visage, with Cole lingering unsurely at his side.

Spellbound, Lloyd stepped forward to watch the rising of the first droid. It was a boy, maybe older than Cole by a year, with shortly cropped brown hair, blinking fixatedly in a forward direction, focusing his eyes on his surroundings. His plaid shirt was roughly abused, while he wore a similar golden ring as to Sylvester's on his finger. His skin was a light brown, his eyes a respondent clash of blue; his nose was wide against his face. He rubbed his wrists as he took in the newcomers standing before him. As she passed, Caroline smiled friendly at him. "Hello, Leo," she said quietly.

"Carolyne!" he said, and Lloyd frowned. He said it _Care-oh-lin-ee. _How weird? "How good to see you!"

"Ditto, Mr. Waters," she said befashionably. She looked to Lloyd. With a pleasant smile on her face, she revealed her straight, small white teeth this time, the smile of someone who was, for the first time in a long while, _happy. _It evoked a similar smile to Lloyd's face. She blinked at him, and for a briefly solemn-less moment, some thought passed between them that Lloyd just wasn't about to reveal to his trustworthy audience, but it made him realize with a startled flutter of his heart that Caroline really _wasn't _replacing Zane. She was just holding his spot until he got back.

"The Clockwork Army," Caroline said loudly, turning from him as around them, bodies rose from their caskets, "was created for the purpose of both aiding the sacred Green Ninja through his journeys _and _helping those who cannot help themselves. Zane Sigur Montgomery was the first of the army, born forty-three years ago in mid-July after an imperishable dance with death." Lloyd glanced at Rikku. _Montgomery. _"In life, Zane and I were good friends. My father stole him from his parents once they discarded him with the glad intentions of recreating him as a robot, a skill he'd been studying forever. In life, I was his daughter, Carolyne." Wistful winds enveloped her as she turned on yet another sleeping droid. "I helped him perfect his obsession with inventing one. He took Zane, used his body as a reference, while working inside of his new creation into a clockwork-based robot. While I worked to 'heal' the real Zane of his sickness, I ended up catching a good whiff of it, too." She sighed. "I passed after he did. Only then, when I reawoke, did I realize my father recreated me as one of his own. Farther behind was my younger brother, Angus. Then followed Zane's brother, Rikku." She nodded to the droid standing beside Lloyd. Lloyd turned, expecting as much from the man; he realized they shared the same eye color. "The sickness was slowly eating at the town. My father was seemingly immune to it as he worked with the dying to make them into newer beings. As he recreated, he perfected his droid making. More emotions were given, more realism. Zane was not so lucky to be granted a human-like quality." Caroline glanced respectfully towards the dead nindroid behind Lloyd. He shivered. "Every child or young person that died, he took into arms to make new. He's created many more than the thirteen you see here before you, who many of which no longer exist. At first, there was no intention for their creation, but Father kept them all on a short leash with the fear that his robots would not be accepted alone in society. He kept them safe.

"However, as he learned of the ancient scrolls telling about the legend of the Green Ninja"—Caroline glanced at Lloyd—"he figured he'd put his newborns to use. He trained us all on self-defense and weapon usage before the Reckoning." A great shiver tore through Caroline. Lloyd watched it fly through her.

"I've heard that before," Cole murmured. "The Reckoning. I heard Zane mutter about it in his sleep once. What is it?"

Caroline sighed, working away at a droid girl's stomach. "The Reckoning was a very ghastly, very terrible day," Caroline barely whispered. Her knuckles turned white. "They came for us with knives and swords and torches…"

**THE FIREMAN'S CIRCLE, NINJAGO, FIFTY YEARS AGO**

"Be a dear, love, and grab me that shovel?" Zane called from the field, standing straight. The wheat reached his mid-waist, concealing his trousers from Carolyne's view as she pulled clothing by piece of clothing from the basket at her feet, using pins to attach them securely to the thin white rope dangling above her head, strung between two trees in the yard. She held her hand horizontally above her eyes to shield away the sun, risen to its greatest peak above them. Beyond Zane worked the other male droids in which Julien (as he preferred to be called back then, at his young ages) had asked kindly to work away outside at the crops before the sun fell. The droids worked faster than regular humans did, harvesting away with little songs they created on the fly, soon becoming choruses yelled by each and every one of them in one loud hum of music Carolyne bear not miss. She loved the sound of each voice of the robots she and Julien had been able to create at that point in time; before the Reckoning, there were fifty three, belligerent and headstrong young men and women with happiness at existence. Over time, more foul emotion would erupt, but for that day, it remained their final long-lasting smile in the rocky ways of the world.

Carolyne pinned up the red dress she'd sewn for the fifteen-year girl named Persephone for her newbirthday (they called it so in response to the rebirth they were given by Julien.) Then, she grabbed the spearhead shovel, leaning lazily against the shadow of the drooping willow beside her, lifting her skirts to carry it to him through the tall, growing young grass.

Zane waited expectantly for her with the brightest of smiles on his face, leaning against his rake with both palms while he watched her come. These were the days—and this would be the last—that Zane experienced true emotion, as his original programming allowed him to have. He experienced life just as a normal human would, in magnified ways that Carolyne could justify to, for she saw the world this way herself. She extended the shovel to him over the divider of wheat stopping her from jumping happily into his arms just because this was the fashion of the world back then. "Thank you, my love," Zane dropped his rake to the ground, replacing it in his hands with the shovel Carolyne had retrieved. She kneaded her floral patterned skirts with her anxious hands while she watched him stab the ground below him.

"What have you?" she asked, gesturing to the tool. He looked at her with wide open eyes. Humans would've squinted under the intense rays as their pupils could only take in so much light, but they robots perceived the world in mysteriously wonderful ways. Seeing everything, knowing everything; they were fine luxuries one could only dream to have. Carolyne swished her skirts while he responded.

"I sense something beneath the surface," he answered, stabbing to the ground again. "I know not what it is, but I have a feeling it is interesting."

Carolyne took in his broad shoulder line, masked by his thin white button down, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His short blonde hair was white under the beams of the fireball of the sun, with his creamy skin aglow. She beamed at him with only the remark that she had the right to him, that he belonged to her and she to him. No other droid knew the feeling of love as they did. No other droid had it with them, locked in their tool belt, before they came into the world as a newborn robot. She'd never forget the way he looked, working hard through the fields that day, his eyes gleaming with reality and personality she would never quite see in him ever again. At the time, she liked to think she took for granted his love, drinking it in by the gallons, instead of cherishing every last drop as it came. It was a sorrow she regretted many times, many seconds, many days after the Reckoning. She regretted it all.

Yet this part of her, that day, did not consider the future, only the present. "Let us hope it is not perhaps a beast," she offered lightly with her accent dripping like liquid. "In some form of a dragon, slithering between the cracks of the earth, destined for a feast of robots such as we."

Zane chuckled and smiled tolerantly at her. "I fear your imagination grows far too strong," he repeated in a similar, Old World accent. She loved the way it rolled off his tongue. "Daydream any more, and it'll carry you away with the sands of time."

Carolyne cocked her head in a bemoaning challenge. "You wouldn't let such a weather do away with me, now would you?"

"Must you ask?" Zane smiled at her again, tossing aside yet another chunk of earth from beneath him. She listened to the rhythmic dig and discard of his shovel.

"It is always nice to hear."

Another chuckle responded her, and with a pride Carolyne was bestowed a gentle hair ruffle. It stirred her short red waves worse than the whispering wind surrounding her did. "You know I would never let evil consume you," Zane murmured. "I care far too much for you to let you disappear so quickly."

Giggles befuddled her like a schoolgirl being complimented by one of the elder boys in her class. Zane watched her childish fit with an exclusive affection before reaching his fingertips beneath her chin and pulling her forward for a kiss, tender in which would be their very last for a very long, long time. She touched his throat with the hopes he'd stay longer. She could never quite recover quick enough after his kisses, their soft caress, their gentle strokes of his fingertips across her cheekbones. She found herself laughing against his lips without the intention, and soon he was laughing, too; one cannot help it when they have nothing to mourn over. In the distance, she listened to the song of the droids working away with the crops, calling to the sky,

"_A mountain above, high overhead, _

_A beckon calling, a doom for death._

_The fires consume you, peaked o'er her tops, _

_Set deadly blaze upon your crops. _

_Be careful sons, they come in packs,_

_Their fireballs soaring, their falls come black! _

_To save your workings, your life's repairs, _

_You must beseech, you must grow aware._

_Call over gods, gods of these crops!_

_Save our good food, save every rot!"_

Carolyne touched Zane's chin. Sighing with complete blissful charge, she allowed herself to lean back, pressing her forehead to his, eyes closed in a moment's grace to save it in her heart. Zane stroked her hair just behind her ear for a second too soon when they heard the voice from beside them, "Couldn't help yourself from smocking off in the midst of a work day, could you?"

Carolyne rolled her eyes and leaned away, observing Kol's appearance from thin air as she usually did. Equipped with her best of apprehensive eyes, she straightened her dress, folding her hands below her waist while she raised her eyebrow at the boy. He lived no older than she, his angelically dark hair cut nicely to a proper area just beneath his ears. He wore a smile of success at the broken link of the couple's embrace. Zane just smiled at him and, with a wink at Carolyne, went back to digging into the ground. "We were not _smocking off," _Carolyne countered bestly.

"Oh, yeah? What do you call it?" Kol Bastians stroked his cleft chin thoughtfully, peering at the sky through brown eyes. "Is it referred to as 'smooching' or 'gnacking'? I forget," he shook his head while Carolyne proceeded with another eye roll. "Or were you just snacking on each other's tongues?"

"Would you like a taste?" Carolyne stuck out her tongue at him, lifting her skirts. Zane laughed loudly while poor Mr. Bastians took his turn to roll his own eyes.

"Very funny, Carolyne MgGee," he rhymed. "But does thou knoweth you can be done away with at such twitterpated actions?"

"Does thou knoweth he is annoying and should return to work?" Rikku appeared with his own rake, taking a hard tap of its handle against the back of Bastians' head. The younger boy glanced back with a scowl of irritation while he nurtured the bump on the back of his head. Rikku, in his similar clothing to Zane's, put his balled fists to his hips with a half-lidded glare.

"I was just having a little fun," Kol continued to wear a hole in the back of his head with the force of his rubbing of wounds. "Where's the crime in that?"

"Be gone with you, or you'll be out here working even _after _the sun has fallen," Rikku threatened. Kol Bastians eventually shuffled off with his hand on his head and rake dragging lazily against the ground behind him. Rikku took to perfecting the annoyed look. "That boy," he muttered. "Has he no sense at all?"

Zane continued to dig. "He _is_ only a boy," he reminded Rikku quietly. "Not all intelligence takes effect immediately."

Carolyne opened her mouth to make yet a comment of question against the little troublemaker's intelligence, but that was the ill-fated step in time in which there was no return. They heard the angry cries from beyond them with simultaneous snaps of their heads towards the fire raging up the dirt road to their home. Torches, pitchforks, knives, shotguns, and the likes were all bestowed to people—hundreds of people in which their faces were branded with the same similar grimace of hatred towards things they didn't—nor would ever—understand. The young girls working in the front to hang the clothing picked up their skirts, and with screams of terror, took to running to the house. This was where father emerged, young, virtuous. His brown hair matted to his forehead with sweat, eyes beady with fear. He took in the angersome mob quickly. "Come, my children!" He waved his arms towards the fields. "Run!"

Carolyne grabbed her dress hem and ran towards the young girls to help push them on as behind her, the mob screamed. It was hard for her to process so quickly the events beginning, but her system warned her this was often a result of a village gathering's attempt to rebel against some specific thing in a mutual agreement that it—whatever _it _may be—shall be destroyed. In this case, _it _was Julien's plantation of droids. Somehow, the townspeople had figured out of the mechanical, clockwork monstrosities this brilliant man had created, and without pausing to examine the beauty of it, they intended to ruin every granule of it out of lack of understanding. Carolyne pressed her hands against the backs of two young robots, Malea and Jessalyn, forcing them forward into the wall of crops. "Go!" She yelled. "Hide!"

She glanced to father on the porch. He was already descending at a quick pace. "Carolyne!" He yelled. "Take to the fields!"

But she paused, looking around her for any source of remaining droids. She knew in her programmed "heart," where her emotions came from, that she could _not _leave behind someone at the sake of her own life. The mob ran closer now, dragging their torches along the trees and the beautiful green grass below their feet. Carolyne's dream home was being destroyed at the hands of these wretched monsters and their fire. She gasped when she watched the willows burst into flames quicker than she could've spelled her own name.

"Carolyne!" shouted someone. She turned to see a twelve year girl—Toralei, she presumed-tripping over baskets of unhung clothing. Angry mobsters were hovering over her with their weapons. Reacting quickly, Carolyne grabbed a nearby rake, running as quickly as her mechanical joints would carry her through the rapidly burning grass. _"Leave her!" _Carolyne shouted to the humans, violently grabbing at Toralei's legs. The little girl screamed, kicking with all her might, yet she could not disband them from her. Snide comments of unjust hate spat into Toralei's face, and with the unbearably sickening feeling to have to watch them lay their torch down on her dress, Carolyne picked up the rake, aimed, and threw it as though it were a javelin in their direction without ever knowing where it would hit.

It was an accident, really. Carolyne had never meant to hurt anyone, much less send the spikes drilling through the snide man's stomach; she didn't have time to horrify herself over the realization of murder as she grabbed Toralei's hand. The snide man had dropped his torch, letting fire roam evilly through their much-loved lawn. They used what speed they could gather to try and outrun the angry flames walling up behind them. _"Kill them or be killed!" _shouted someone. _"Destroy the robots!" _

Carolyne reached the edge of the lawn, sending Toralei into the field. "Run!" She yelled over the heavy black smoke. Waiting for her was Julien, Zane, Rikku, and her younger brother, Angus, who ran to her and clutched at her hand as though it were the last thing he'd ever touch. Slick with black ash, the boys glanced around at their homeland being ruined by hatred. Julien coughed loudly through the smoke.

"Carolyne!" Angus cried, pointing to the mob, closing in on them. She gasped. A moment later, a bullet whizzed past her head while she watched, horrified, as the windows of their home were smashed by the butts of guns and heavy rocks, elbows, feet. Torches were placed along the blue painted walls, sending them fluttering into malicious flame. Reflected in everyone's eyes was the mockery of this wretched day. But no, not just that. Reflected in their eyes was the end of an era.

Julien coughed worse, batting away smoke from his eyes. "Carolyne!" He shouted. "You must go with Angus! You must travel as far as you can away from here, as far as you can get! I do not care where you go, just _never stop _and don't you _ever _come back here, you understand?"

"Why?" She shouted as they closed in on them, edging closer, shooting, missing. Carolyne was forced to press her side against the wheat, Angus' small body already half hidden in the mass, when they kept on with their incessant shenanigans. "Father, what about you?"

"You _must _leave! Take him away, Carolyne! I reckon you'll find a much more pleasant place to live rather than here, and know you will _never _come back! Understand me?" He repeated. "_Never!" _

"Father!" She shouted. "But you…"

"Zane and I must go separate from you," Julien coughed. Carolyne recoiled in shock. "Rikku will lead the rest of the robots to the tomb hidden in the forest. Please, Carolyne, you must go! Don't you ever stop running! Never! Stay with your brother!"

"_Zane!" _Carolyne shouted, holding out her hand as Rikku shoved her further into the swirling mass of white wheat, yet the only thing Zane could do was mouth his apologies and grab his father's hand, yanking him into a completely different direction than which places Rikku was shoving her to. He spoke to her, but over the combined roars of fire and man it was impossible to hear him. Through the wheat buzzed bullets, lucky enough to miss them every time, though it wasn't too long before the wheat and other crops set on the large fire forcing them from their beloved home. Everything Carolyne had ever known was destroyed, then, as they emerged on the other side of the field into the dark hood of the forest with the remaining thirty-seven robots huddled around each other, waiting for Rikku's leadership and command. Rikku pressed his hands to her shoulders, shaking her from her daze.

"Take Angus and _run," _he commanded. "And don't you _ever _stop running. Hear me?"

"I heard you!" Carolyne snapped out of fear. She glanced at what of her family she had left. There were many that failed to function under the witty stress, falling past repair in the gloom of the field to be consumed by fire. Others in their hiding places had been discovered and beheaded on spot. Plenty were shot down in cold blood to quench the disgusting demands of man and their quest for ultimate superiority. She didn't dare count how many brothers and sisters she lost that day, but gave what small a farewell she could manage before running away from the group as Rikku forced them deeper into the wood in the direction of the Tomb. That day, Carolyne was forced into a run for the next fifty two years until her father would soon come to retrieve them…

**PRESENT DAY**

"One by one, my father stalked them and shut them off," Caroline's voice couldn't manage above a whisper. "He'd put them in caskets to hide them away, yet I never knew this until he discovered us past the outskirts Jamokai Village. Angus and I lived under many names in plenty of places over the years. Eventually I adopted the grave alias of 'Caroline' in memory of Carolyne, the girl I'd once been. We never stuck our heads out the door, and when we did, hid our faces from sight. I ran, as I was told, until I was told to stop."

She raised her eyes to Lloyd's, meeting his wide-eyed gaze under the circumstances of her horrific story. "The Reckoning was a doomsday for us droids," she whispered softly, painfully. "From its awful memory it's quite difficult to return. Father had to put down many because they couldn't handle the thought of it." She motioned to the full caskets around her. "We, we are the last of the Clockwork Army, once strong in numbers, now cold with a scanty few. And may the gods bless you if you can get many of us to work well after all these horrific years."

**I know, bad ending, but its REALLY late and I MUST go to bed. , SCHOOL SUCKS, BTW!**

**:D SO anyway. Please review, and go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night! –Kairi Venomus**


	21. Ch 20: WE ALL GO A LITTLE MAD SOMETIMES

**This chapter is…Well, not one of the greatest, but I had to give you guys something. XD So here it is! It's a little different from the majority of my chapters, but I wanted to give you guys some reassurance after the last couple of chapters, with Jay and Caroline's sad past. So maybe this will turn out as good as I'm hoping. Fingers crossed! XD**

**You'll learn about **_**two **_**new terms—well, actually, technically one, bc you already **_**know **_**one, but it's good to have your memory refreshed. :3 But they're some terms and a little bit of mystery in there that is always nice to have in a chapter to keep you wanting more. :D**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_20. We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes_

_**I am the past. **_

ECHOES AND WHISPERS OF past lives murmured throughout the concourse cave of shadows, a fair, solemn graveyard of calling made by the screams of some and the cries of others. This place is no place any mere man can wander to, perhaps to stumble upon in his adventurous hiking trip. It is a place within us as people, a place concealed in the darkest pits of our mind, a place only we can access ourselves. It opens itself up to us amid tragedy and vain, windows swinging wide for our souls to clamber through in need of an escape of humanity. Some, in life, spare plenty of their grievous moments buried inside of its dark tumors, its wretched glazed walls fixed with barely a brim of candlelight to shed for sight. But many, as perhaps you will be part of this majority's percentage, never find this place within themselves. They find a better, more preferred channel their brain can tune into, focusing purely on the positivity and the _glass is half full _theme of their life's song. _That _place is an oasis, a gorgeous, leisurely island within themselves. Yet some, as the small few I have mentioned earlier, _never _find that, instead sticking to what is referred to as The Cave and its lowly, cracked notes.

There is hope for some who travel deep within The Cave to hide away their grim sorrows, misadventures, and the sad companions, though hardly many suffer such ill fate as _she _has. Now, before you get confused with me and beg a question of whom it is I refer to, I must look you towards the last few gathering on the aircraft of a boat hidden in the shadowless desert. Look down on its glorified mast, upturned by the crew of clockwork now striding across its deck in hurries for immediate takeoff, as the young red-haired girl has ordered. The boat looks in well shape, don't you think? Its woods are plenty reinforced as compared to its earlier model, shaven down to a smooth factor and a seamless cut. The brains of just one, however programmed, can be rather magnificent! And ah, speak of the devil! Here she walks up the staircase leading from the lower deck, her silken white robes a-shine beneath the sun above. Now, from as high up here you may say I am mad, but looking to her, I already know what she's thinking. Hear me out before you scream a bowelful cry of your disbelief, my rambunctious friend! I am but nothing; I live in the past, the present, and the future all in one singular moment, all at once, all at same. However, I only exist in the past; I can see the present waiting below me, presiding to happen. I do not seek answers and I do not judge on decisions, I merely watch them and think of what could've been assumed better or believe in ways that have been handled rather well.

Now, as I have strayed from our delightful subject, I can hear just as she thinks. No, not hear; I _know. _It is a gift from both the gods and from my creator. I know the way she feels uncomfortable with her new self, yet that can be assumed by any mere onlooker, you counter. But ah! I know of how she is thinking of the best tactics on locating her father. Well, you say, that can be obvious, too. Still don't believe me?

I know of her secret.

Ah, you think I am just saying that to capture your attention? No, my curious friend, I am not just saying this for your benefit. I mean what I say; people of my kind have the gift and curse of the ability not to lie. I cannot fake you what I know, nor can I fake you what I think. I can see her anxiously running to the room full of technologies and equipment greater than I with a shifty gaze, an unsteady flush of her bloodless cheeks. The screen in which she looks at doesn't bear her desired results. It is most saddening, yet I know she will find the man she is looking for, the one she calls 'Father,' beloved for her soul. I can tell, yet upsettingly I cannot predict his whereabouts. My only skill on this earth is continued by my shattered legacy. I have purpose, my young friend, as an entity in gathering. I watch, I wait, I listen, I feel, yet I cannot say nor give advice to those I observe crucially in the midst of tenuous times.

I feel wistful while I watch these manmade people roam in tension while they set fire to the rockets that will eventually propel them into the sky. Up trots the two remaining ninjas from the original five, one barely clinging to his humanity and will to remain at his friend's side and the other feeling the weight of the world yet press on his shoulders once more through time. I wish I could help them, I really do, but with my lack of form I am unable to provide the services I feel I owe them, observing their adventures from afar rather than by their side.

I am the past. I linger as a remnant of them, a dedication to wars past, battles lost, victories well deserved, and above all, time. I am time now, nothing more, nothing less. I am only a relic. I am only a memory. And I am now forgotten.

_**I am the present.**_

I don't think there's any fairness in life, but that's just my opinion, I guess. Where's the fairness in the fact that you try your hardest to fight the traffic on the highway, only to arrive at the airport and find out that your flight _just left the second you stepped over the security system. _Where's the fairness in the fact that the _one time _you don't watch where your dog is going when you let him outside he runs away, and you find him three hours later with his guts on the other side of the road? Where's the fairness when the odds are eleven to your two and there's no way you're going to win the fight, especially when the other side has guns and knives and switchblades in each palm, and all you have is your bare fists, the one night you decided to sneak out of your house to go to the party down the block?

Yeah, I don't think there's fairness in the world. Especially not when you live in The Cave. Lords, is it _cold _in there, dark and dreary and completely consuming. You have no choice but to sink lower into the tides threatening to swallow you, since it's too difficult to battle the waves anyway. I've been through some pretty cold times, suffering death millions of times over in spans of just a couple of days, watching my loved ones go through hell just to do one thing without even the ability to lend a helping hand. It's torturous; I've considered slinking back into The Cave one or two times while watching, but really, that's not going to happen. I'd be a real sucker if I just walked away like that. As the past hovers _above_, the present stands _with_, leaning against the mast of the boat while watching those around him run with a certain anxiety to them that filters into the air quickly like a sponge exudes its inner liquids and whatever other crap clogs its pores. Well, not _he; _that _he _is actually _I. _But…WHATEVER THE MATTER…I watch solemnly. I feel what they feel as they feel it. I watch them run around. I watch Cole with a hard gaze, hoping he really isn't thinking what I feel him thinking, a premise of fearfulness he shouldn't react in. Though I know he can't see me, it doesn't take a genius to know that he's feeling me near. His heightened senses prickle at my presence like a cat hisses into the wind when it knows the unseen lingers closely. He glances at where I stand with furrowed brows. While the past no longer exists and has no form (though he's just as qualified as I am to have one,) I am the present, reacting equally with each second, my pure forms taking on the past as the milliseconds tick away. I hold true to what I feel I should look like, though that should probably be the wind, it's easier to walk around and maneuver quicker if you have feet capable of dragging you along.

I raise what would be an eyebrow at him although I know he can't see me. He stares into the air with a concentrated gaze until his name is called from beyond us. Lloyd calls to him, running across the deck with quick _thumps _of the hard wood beneath his golden boots, skidding to a stop at Cole's side. Since Cole is the only one left for him to hold on to, Lloyd clutches at him, a sign to me—the present—that he fears that he will be abandoned. "Cole," he breathes, as noticing the constipated expression of true teenage vampire angst rips across his face. "What's wrong?"

"I…you know what? Nothing. I just…thought I heard something." But _nothing _isn't explained at the way he throws a very daring, very knowing look at me, not meeting my eyes, but rather staring to my chin, I'd think. I give a wary sigh which passes off as a small breeze through the air, just a little shift of the atmosphere, but Cole turns backwards sharply. He _knows _I'm here—he just doesn't know it's _me. _Lloyd watches him with a quiet concern.

"I don't completely believe you. People who 'hear something' don't do that. What's going on?" He asks again, but Cole's nostrils flare, eyes narrowed in the spot I stand in. I watch as his normally grey eyes, in the shadow beneath his hair, turn a liquid, sharp silver, eyes reddening around their shape, dark circles gathering beneath them. His skin begins to pale, lips reddening. Lloyd lays a hand on his arm again, since there's no possible way to grab him from the rock formation shaped shoulder blade protections resting on his shoulders, and this time he looks really concerned—and really frightened. I feel upset that I've done something to disturb him, but can't do much about what present I have altered; the past, from above, gives a little groan at me that only I can hear. I glance upwards briefly before returning my gaze.

Cole's vampiric facial oddities begin to return to normal, since then allowing Lloyd to step into view, the inability to know that Cole remained a vampire—something I'd taken to shock myself—still a mystery to him. Unsuspecting, Lloyd snaps his fingers before the vampire ninja's face. "Hey. What's gotten into you?" He taps Cole's forehead, removing the steely gaze to him rather than fixed on myself. "Seriously, Cole, we need to _focus. _Kai—or, I guess, whatever he's called—has my mom, and he probably has Julien, too, and Nya, for that matter. We need to pick up the pace and snap back to reality. This is no joke."

"No one's laughing," Cole says quietly. He glances over Lloyd's shoulder to my colorless form. "I just feel…I don't think we're alone, Lloyd."

Lloyd glances warily behind him. "Let's not say that, okay? We all go a little mad sometimes; hearing things doesn't mean there's something lurking in the shadows. The Clockwork Army would sense something, too, and I'm feeling nothing. Come on, Cole. Let's go to Caroline."

I watch them leave, yet Cole continues to glance backwards at me, still unconvinced. I rub what would be my wrist with the intention of following, but the Past takes shape beside me. His voice is hidden by the wall of two different pieces of time between us, muffled, but I can still hear him. Only I can see what he truly is, and for that I am grateful; how weird would it be if I were looking into air, hearing the voice, yet seeing no one?

You'd say I was mad.

"You've got him suspicious," said the Past.

"Do I now?" I say. "Don't worry, he won't go anywhere with it. He's got to realize that Nya's captured sometime." Uncomfortable, I touch my ear. Or… "ear." Whatever.

"Obviously," snapped the Past. "Now, don't let him sense you any further past this point; we cannot let ourselves get in the way. We came here to a purpose; the Elemental Leaders obviously believed we could do some good by prolonging Lloyd's expansion time before he fights in order for robot Sensei to train him and Caroline."

"Sure," I quiver. "They had confidence we could put off—"

"Not we, Kai," murmured the Past. "_You _put off. I can only help you alter what has happened and what will."

"Sure," I repeat. I watch Lloyd and Cole through the wide window of the room where all that mechanical stuff I'll never understand is. "And don't you go misleading me, Zane; we can't afford to screw up."

Zane—the Past—ignores me. "Remember what the Leaders told us. We must _help _Lloyd into the war but not _start _it. Meaning, we cannot tell them about what treacheries lie ahead of them. They can't know about the Murder of One, nor the Final Sacrifice. They _can't _know."

I probably should be in there documenting life as it happens, but Zane's words have intrigued me, the utter of those two simple terms making me want to know more, and plague the minds of those around me with the knowledge of it that they can _stop _it, if they're witty enough to grab last of its antidote. But I can't. It's a gruesome thing to even have to entertain—but I can't go against the rules, or perhaps the whole outcome of this…_thing _will be whipped up into a really bad version of what it could've been. I stare into the distance for a moment, thinking of Jay. Then I realize, he _needed _a moment to himself. I just don't know how long that moment will last.

"I just…just _really _hope they can prevent, um, _me _from killing anyone else. I don't think I could stand any more of that." I shudder, a ripple in the wind. I half expect Cole to turn towards me and stare but he remains with a steady gaze on the flat screen in the room on the other end of the boat, watching images unfold before him with some meaning I didn't know, since I was standing out here.

"We cannot predict that," Zane murmured. "We can only fix what _can _be undone before it has even begun."

I nod, thinking hard. "They are the future," I repeat, thinking of the Elemental Leaders' words. "And all we are is relics."

"Relics," Zane murmured, forlorn.

I clench my "fists," feeling determination shed through me, lava burning heatedly beneath my skin. "But we'll do everything we can to stop the bad from happening—from _our _side of the realm."

Zane nodded. "Yes," he said. "We will. We have the power to help them as much as we can now."

"Even though they can't see us," I add, determined to make my point. "We will _always _be here with them."

"_Always." _

**They will always be with them, indeed! Kai and Zane will do what they can to help Lloyd and the others get past all this crap, from where they are. :D BROTHER BOND! Don't we love those? :3**

**PS—thank you guys for your lovely nice reviews! I love you guys so much! SO SWEET! ^_^ Now, I would **_**kindly **_**ask you to review again and give me some feedback on THIS question:**

**Who do you want to hear about next? A) Misako, or B) Lloyd on his race to find her, Julien, and Nya.**

**(PLEASE) Let me know what you thought of the chapter, eat your veggies but NOT the green ones (they could be evil!) and go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night! Smile today for me. Laugh, because laughter is nature's medicine. :3**

**As always, **

**Kairi**


	22. Chapter 21: GIVE AN INCH

**WARNING: **I would greatly encourage you guys, as readers, to check out my "NO WAY OUT" fanfic under the _NINJAGO _section first before you look any further into this chapter. It's not a _**demand, **_so no worries, you don't _have _to, it's just a recommendation that would be wise to follow. :D

**TRACKS INSPIRING THIS CHAPTER: **_Katherine's Theme/the Curse _by Michael Suby and _the Main Event _by Jay Vincent (Ninjago)

**Since the majority rule works here, you mostly wanted to hear from MISAKO, so I have created a chapter about her and the others—but wait! For those of you who wanted to hear about Lloyd, too (recovery from that horrendous Kai/Zane previous chapter) I've got some of him in the manning as well. So, ENJOY MY FELLOW FRIENDS! XD**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_21. Give an Inch…_

KAI TOSSED MISAKO ROUGHLY onto the ground beside Julien, her body hitting the marble stone beneath them with a thud that rumbled loudly through his old bones. She'd tried not to squeak, but it was obvious the battle was hard lost by the fowl-like screech she gave on impact, slamming against the wall with a vast jerk of her body. Julien couldn't help but make his own noise of shock. The tied couple gasped at her quiet, sightless stare into the distance, not even bothering to so much as blink. A recovery of silence was hard to bear when staring at her; Julien tried his best to find such weak link in the embrace of his tightened binds, yet forcing his hands from them seemed an impossible task. Beside him, the wailing father—the one called Lou—stopped a moment from his daughter's crumpled form to look to her. Oh, it was dreadful to stare at someone who never noticed they were being stared at in the first place. Misako's shoulders didn't rise nor fall through the steepened haze she now existed through. Julien tried his voice best to wake her, but it appeared no vocal encouraging could coax her from the dreary place she now inhabited. With a stressed groan, Julien turned to look at the boy who had once been their friend with a sickened glare.

"What have you _done?" _he gasped, but Kai overlooked him in his raging stalk towards them. His boots sucked against the floor, kicking away excess dirt they'd drug into the sacred Temple. To his face emerged a mask of malicious, consuming emotions Julien hated to think of, things no human being should have to bear.

"Alright, you maggots," spat Kai, stopping in front of them. His glance skimmed over the tied couple, Misako's ragged body, Nya's sleeping beauty, Lou's tear streaked face, the young girl's shut eyes, and Julien's mortification in less than just a few seconds. It proved to the Tinkerer just how much Kai really _cared _anymore. He'd wreaked so many a havoc on them—and for _what? _Julien wondered. "I'm going to make this quick. I have things to do, and I'm not wasting my day on you pathetic beasts. So," he concluded, "who's first?"

"First to _what?" _asked the tied woman warily. Her eyes, beneath her almond-shaped glasses, became discs beneath her eyebrows. "Oh, Ed," she whispered to the man behind her, "I think he wants to _hurt _us!"

Julien could hear his eyes roll. "Now what sense does that make, Edna? He's a ninja, like Jay!"

Now it was Kai who completed a similar act of annoyance. "Oh, you insipid fools," he growled. "I am a ninja no more. My purpose now is to complete my Transition and find that damn Shadow Key—two things that I can't do without the blood of the parent who fits the Rhyme. Since there's not too much time now, I'm just going to kill you all one by one until someone's blood works."

Horrified, each of them stared at him until it truly dawned on their face. "Oh, Ed!" cried Edna, trying desperately to shake herself free of the ropes keeping her from escaping like a frightened creature flees trouble, yet they seemed to tighten with every movement. Lou shook his head in pale skin. "I wasn't prepared for this," he grumbled. "I'm supposed to be practicing so I can win the Replacement Blade Cup, not being held _hostage."_

Kai wagged a gloved finger at him. "No, no," he said enthusiastically. His green eyes bode too bright for his angular face. "You're not a hostage. Hostages have a _chance _of being released. You—oh, well, now, _you…_you're not going anywhere but _straight down."_

_**Minutes later**_

Julien shook against the killer cold of the wall of fear pressed to him, a murderer at his throat, blade pressed deeply into his throat as behind him the threat of Skales the snake held a beam to his back, ready to split it at the first variant sign of a threat. He could barely breathe with his heart screaming in his chest, drums beating hard through his ribcage. He didn't dare a swallow in case the thick, crescent shaped blade dug into his skin and forced blood to well at the surface.

In similar formations were the others, but perhaps altered to fit them more suitably. Lou didn't require as much security, his shoulders hunched and head low, life stepping onto the plank of his curving back, preparing to crush him beneath its treachery. Edna called for more than just two fiends poised at her side, pointing weapons and threats to her struggles. Ed was trying his hardest to calm her, but her shaky tears were becoming contagious, flooring through each of them with the tensions of knowing their death was coming, and hardly avoidable at that. To his left it took Pythor and the Fangpyre used their combined might to hold Misako to her standing ovation, head rolling limply to rest on her shoulder. Her eyes had since closed, something Julien prayed meant she was capable of doing that herself.

Where they'd left her, Lou's daughter, Seiko, remained pooled beside Nya, yet both of them were heavily guarded by untrustworthy Skullkins and snakes combined, as though they were highly dangerous prisoners that should be monitored consistently. Julien knew nothing of Seiko, but he'd had the time to glimpse the white wristband before Misako had rushed to cover it with the light shirt sleeve, bearing results that couldn't be distinctively appreciated. He sighed. The knife edged closer.

Kai paced the length of their five, gloved hands clasped neatly behind his back, black boots scuffing the floor. His long, red-orange cape dragged foolishly along the floor, while his bright yellow armor protecting his abdomen flashed brilliantly into the Tinkerer's eyes. The pitch black undersuit, cascading the length of his arms and legs, seemed as incandescent as the night. He raised his chin with a half smirk to his lips. "This is how it will go down!" he called so all could be heard. "I'm going to cut your throat, take your blood, and try this ritual to the best of my effect! If it doesn't work, I'll move on and leave you to bleed your veins dry. If it _does—_well, perhaps there is something in the future for you." He turned a careful smile on them. At Julien's side, Misako groaned, the first sign of life he'd heard from her since her launch to the wall. He felt his body relax slightly at the idea that her heart _still _beat beneath her skin.

"Don't you think that's a little…_irrational?" _asked the hooded man gravely, standing with his golden staff at his chest, staring longingly into the bloody pool beneath the glowing bell's shadow. It seemed more illuminated since Misako hit it with her shoe, but that was probably more to Julien's assumption; it probably didn't gleam the way he perceived it did, yet something was slightly unusual to its tenor glow. Kai turned slowly to face his opponent.

"Probably," he said without hesitation. "However, what choice do I have? The clock's ticking, and I'd rather not waste my last days trying to solve a riddle a crazed man wrote in the early days before your forsaken mother considered conceiving you. I'm doing this _my _way."

The hooded man didn't turn, instead nodding slowly, observantly. "As you wish," he murmured quietly. "Yet think hard, my dear _Prince, _of the riddle that binds you before you act. _A stone cold fury," _he quoted. _"Laughter in its most chattering ways."_

"What point have you got?"

"_Think!" _snarled the hooded man. "'_A strong voice in the art of technology."_

"'_And a chill in the coldest of days,'" _finished Kai irritably, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. He finally turned his back to the row of barely-beheaded prisoners. With the cape's whirl, the red snake in front of Julien bared its hooked teeth at him, green eyes darkening. Its tongue flickered inches from his nose. He tried not to recoil, instead looking past the sweaty scales towards the voices he heard contradicting one another. "I _know _that, Eloquim. What point do you have?"

"I told you to think!"

So Kai did. It was many, many moments before there was a stir of movement from his eyelids, sealed tightly in his thoughts while he considered things beyond Julien's understanding. All Julien could think in this cold blooded war was that no matter what he did, even the slightest shiver, brought the blade closer to him and his back closer to the bar that would break his spine into two separate pieces. Julien looked anywhere but into the eyes of the snake, now hissing ancient tongues over his head to Skales, poised behind him in ready to smack his bones to break. Understanding was far beyond him—after all, he was only a Tinkerer, a builder of robots. Solemnly, he realized he and Lou had both suffered quickly the death of their child when really that was not even supposed to case itself at all. Once again he felt the ache inside his heart knowing that he couldn't save his son. Despite himself, he shed the tears he'd been holding back for so long now, the tears that expanded farther past the lingering torture of yesterday but yesterday's yesterday and in fact, plenty of _yesterdays _before them. Years and years of hidden sorrows now built within his stomach, bubbling upwards in a dominant rise to his throat, where he couldn't help but sob with his last moments of life. He let himself cry, for the first time since his mother's death when he was seven. They poured out him like raindrops scoured the surface of window panes after the heavy tears of the rainclouds above, drizzling in trails in a race to the end, leaving tiny, wreathlike designs in their wake. He made no noise, but the release was beautiful, the release of bottled up emotions within him. No longer anymore was this pain he'd have to feel knowing he'd lost _so many _children throughout his life. The majority of them went with the Reckoning, while others died of broken hearts, just as he felt he would if he stayed here any longer. Julien didn't think he could take much more of this. Losing Zane was too much for him, for the death of his son begged a fury of questions, but most of all rising above the surface the most important: How could one go on knowing they had _outlived _their children who were meant to outlive three generations to come?

**KAI**

_A stone cold fury. _

Rage. Anger so fearless it would do anything—even put itself face to face with death's fiery hands—to portray such consuming emotion.

_A laughter in chattering ways._

Conversation, easily made with light laughter floating through the air between companions, chatting over tea while catching up on years lost.

_A strong voice in the art of technology._

Trouble shooting didn't take much to do when it came to stabbing a bug pressed into a hard drive. But it was an even more skillful task to help locate, using your perfected skills of the history of sciences, sacred artifacts using what limited data provided to you on a less-than-fortunate computer.

_And a chill in the coldest of days._

"_Oh, I get to unusual temperatures below zero when it's really cold outside. I just don't—achoo!—excuse me, understand where it comes from. A natural mother's genes, perhaps, but…Oh, well. Maybe that's where you get it from, Lloyd."_

A grin spread across Kai's cheeks, expanding when the gears fell into place. He watched Eloquim stir the blood red water with the end of his staff around the molten, old edged map, spread across the surface of the liquid, sinking deeper below as it settled into its new home for the next couple of seconds. Across the paper, deep into the water, red runes began to form, slithering their way across the surface of the map. It led its way from the temple where they now stood in jagged, waiflike motions towards a focal point at the far edge of the paper, located just beyond a town called _Haikeim, _the old language print deciphering itself into words he could actually understand_. _Miles past its shadowy cold became a starburst of bloody eruptions, and etched from the blood in the faintest white came the words he'd longed to observe for millennium now: _The Lost City of Ouroboros. _He felt a cruel smile ripple across his face again.

"Let it settle," murmured Eloquim, removing the staff from the water, flicking away droplets of remnants of the mystery liquid. "Meanwhile, have you thought, as I have asked?"

"Oh, yes," Kai answered pleasantly, turning on his heel to face his five captives. They shivered at the sight of him—and all cried, except for the reawakening Misako, whose eyelids fluttered sleepily, finally resting on him and understanding that she was in no place to fight back_. _"I have indeed."

"And your conclusion?"

Instead of answering, Kai started confidently towards his pick, his stride prepared. The Fangpyre backed away, also removing the crescent blade at her throat, while Kai's hand could properly replace it, clutching below her ears with his thumb and forefinger. Misako gave a frightened gasp. For the first time, beneath her glasses, there was the obvious detection of fear, her body shaking horridly beneath his, pressed against hers so she could _feel _his confidence in knowing that he _would _kill her flow between them like the exchanging of gifts. He drank in her terror vividly. His _thirst _for it had been too much to bear, but now quickly quenched by its beautiful suction, the sweet tang of it on his tongue. He took a moment of her tensed muscles to just _enjoy _these seconds fluttering between them.

Julien went with horror beside them, his words of protest nothing to Kai's ears; he knew the answer to his riddle now. He hadn't considered her before, yet now there was the opportunity to strike the heart for it to bleed in sweet gushes. Misako flattened her lips to a straight line.

"Go ahead and _kill _me, you sick bastard," she spat into his face. "But Lloyd will _kill _you too."

Kai laughed loudly. It reverberated joyously from the ceiling above him until there were endless mutilated laughters around them, mimicking his. "You think he'll be able to fight back with his mommy gone? Think he'll be able to _function _without you?" His brain felt fuzzy and high with the realization that he was _winning. _For the very first time, Kai was _winning. _

Instead of answering his questions in honest needn't be answered, Misako took a deep breath in a point of relaxation, something she must've mastered over the years. "Do you remember the day"—she wheezed—"we were stuck on the Dark Island, after Garmadon had left us? You remember?"

Despite himself, Kai agreed to remembering that ill day.

"And do you remember, as Julien was fixing the Falcon, and you and the boys came from the beach after you used your powers? I'd just told everyone there was a way Lloyd didn't have to fight. And you remember what you said?" Without waiting for an answer, she said it for him. "You said, 'There's always a loophole to everything.' And Lloyd looked at you and asked what you meant, and you replied, 'There's good to every bad thing that life gives at you, and there's always to reach out and rid yourself of something. You just have to find it.' You remember that?"

Kai thought hard. He wracked what provided memories he had to his availability, but the conversation didn't seem to match up with anything he remembered saying. But, with or without, he needed to remain on top, straightening his back with a vigilant smile. "Of course I do! What a fool do you think I am?"

But it was Misako who had the last laugh. Her smile turned triumphant, and to his dismay, she shook her head slightly, giving an eerie coughing chuckle. "Not even _you _are as tricky as you think," she hissed. Her eyes darted down his form in a hasty observation. "You're not Kai."

Anger coursed through him, but he remained as calm as he could manage beneath its tightening grip. "I am Kai," he assured her.

She shook her head. _"No," _she snarled. She leaned close, nose to nose, a feat in which allowed him to count her dark eyelashes. "You're an _imposter_. And I know _just _who you are."

**NYA**

Her eyes flew open.

Nya's heart pounded thickly in her chest. She found herself bolting upright, her heart like racehorses, hands grabbing at the hard, cool ground beneath her. Sweat beaded her forehead, matting her bangs to her skin, clinging her clothing to her body. With all caution, her body reacted without consent of her consecutive mind, before understanding came her back pressing to the wall, feet digging into the ground as though she could shove herself further into the black concrete. Nya almost forgot where she was until memory attacked her frontlines, digging itself into her eyes as she unfocused to watch her memories past. Cautiously, she prodded beneath her upper lip with the tip of her finger, rubbing gently against her canines. Her gums ached as they extended slowly, making a small, squishing noise as they protruded from her gums, becoming elongated. Nya almost respectively placed a hand on her bulging belly.

She sized up the competition. Two skeletons engaged in a whisper war accompanied by a snake who was busy playing with his nostrils. It wouldn't be too hard to cover in a couple of instants—knock aside the bones, take a stab at the snake with her fangs, which she'd since grown into, then make for the door. Nya was still devising the master escape plan when she saw the girl at her side.

She didn't know why she hadn't seen the small, crumpled form before, but now it pulsed like a dying light bulb before her, making it difficult for her to drag her eyes away. Nya reached for the small body on its side with cautious hands, finding her fingertips shaking uncontrollably as she stroked the arm beneath the white, see through cloth. She didn't understand why, since, after all, her heart had slowed to a normal pace and anxiety ceased to exist within herself. Yet…there wasn't something right about this small form. Nya touched the arm without designated response before believing that whoever it had no consciousness within them. She found herself out of mere curiosity from the way the old Nya would've reacted scooting forward to examine the body closer. She could hear a heartbeat, very slowly, at very extensive times. Thirty seconds between each beat made her nervous, however; no heartbeat led such prolonged systems. Nya took a deep breath. Uncomfortable, she shifted the body to face her again, only this time being able to observe the young, pretty face of a girl no more than a year or two younger than her. Thick, heavy black lashes rested against her cheeks, irises obviously closed to the public. Nya thought she was strangely familiar. Somehow, she felt like she'd seen her before, but she would've remembered her. Who _was _she? And…and why was Kai so intent on keeping her here?

The girl's long, uneven bangs covered her face, something Nya figured wasn't too comfy. She reached her hands gently, sweeping them from the girl's face, exposing her fine-boned features. Nya felt overwhelming sorrow for this poor girl, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. She vowed to try and help her out of this—

The heartbeat quickened. Slowly, of course, but surely, picking up the pace until it was only 1 second passing between the heavy, hard beats, thundering loudly like some angry entity was rushing forth, slamming its feet to the ground as it neared Nya. She recoiled, a spring backwards of tensed muscles and adrenaline prepared especially for some kind of fight. But as the heartbeat began, it reached a peak amount, loud like a clock in her ears, though the Skullkins and snake seemed not to notice or hear the angry noise. She covered her ears, but it didn't help the stupefying racket. Nya found her fangs extending out of sheer protection, face morphing into a grotesque version of the sweet-faced person she had once known. She gave a low hiss, too low for the Skullkins and snake to pick up, a new level of lowness only people of her kind could pick up. The young girl never responded, though her heartbeat began to become second-less, although possibly divided between milliseconds. Nya shook her head and slinked further back.

Then she noticed _his _eyes on her.

Out the corner of her eye, she saw the hooded man's head cocked slightly towards him, revealing one single, green glowing eye, peering at them queerly, interested. Ignoring him, Nya crouched, giving a low growl to try and see if, somehow, she could get the girl to respond. Cole had taught her these things with the slow bob of his Adam's apple, voices at octaves only she could hear, their own special language no one could eavesdrop to. Once again, with it flooding through her ears, there was nothing more for her to do but lean forward. _His _body turned fully to them now in examination.

Nya watched, prepared.

The girl's eyes flew open.

There was hardly time to respond; Nya was being thrown backwards. She felt her body tumble back in a quick fashion of flips and coils, rolling across the floor with an equally as heavy body pressing down on her. She felt nails dig hard into her arm, drawing blood. In return, she swiped blindly with her own, but it was that she was inexperienced in battles using her vampirism, a lesson in life Cole hadn't ever quite gotten around to in their nocturnal teacher-student conferences. Nya gave a shrill howl to try and portray some kind of superiority, but it was hopeless to even try to give one; the girl's hands were at her throat. Nya caught the glimpse, as she straddled Nya, pinning her beneath her ridiculously strong weight, a pair of two unusual eye colors: One a bright green, the other a shocking silver. The silver reminded Nya of Cole's eyes, but that wasn't anything on the least of her concerns. Inside, her inner senses shrieked to attack and kill, though she couldn't bring herself to listen to them fully. She instead bore with the idea of _wounding _and clawed at the girl's face.

She must've expected as much. With a howl, the girl rolled backwards, allowing Nya the upper hand. But just as Nya prepared to bite, the girl pulled up her feet, sticking them beneath the two lithely without even the slightest glimmer of movements. Thrown into the air, she flailed her arms and legs to try and land sooner, yet all attempts were cancelled quickly when the girl stole a forearm from one of the feuding Skullkins. She hurled it at Nya with incredibly fast and strong speeds. Nya felt it hit her square across the chest. She collapsed, giving a feral snarl, though it was drowned by the girl's shrieking. She ran for her with more bones in hand. She whipped them harder until Nya finally fell in throbbing pain to the ground. Almost insanely, the girl's hair flopped over her face, creating a black mask with just that one, single green eye glaring at her from beneath the wave. She held a fibula high overhead, preparing to strike with cold violence, bringing it heavily down as Nya held up her hands (like that would stop her!), but there was a shout from beyond, higher, a further pitch yelping for her attention. The girl froze in her tracks—and so did Nya.

"_Seiko, no!" _

He was there before Nya could've turned her head to the overextended doorway, bowling over the small form with a thick black blur, speeds faster than Nya figured she could've ever come to master. She sat up as quickly as she could to watch them wrestle on the ground, but there was hardly force behind the young girl's violating criminality. Not too soon, he had her pinned to the ground, wrists bound by his lockjaw hands, baring his teeth evilly at her. Nya gasped while the girl's head whipped back and forth, an angry cry erupting through the Temple's lonely silence, breaking the sound barrier. She tried to shake her body from beneath his unsuccessfully. But Nya had no more time to watch the insanity. A loud cry of determination from the doorway averted her zeroed attention to its crier.

"_Let my mother go!" _Lloyd shrieked, and from his hands burst a fierce lightning so pretentious it caught Kai underhanded, electrocuting him backwards in multiple feet covered in a span of two seconds. He landed painfully from beyond Ed and Edna, who, at the sight of, Nya winced. The snakes burst forth, their jaws wide. From Lloyd's golden side, she saw Caroline, holding in her hand the small, precise form of a gun, aimed directly at Pythor. A loud shot rang out, splitting through Pythor's heart, causing him to stop mid-tracks in his ferocity. Then, he collapsed, instead of blood green liquid pouring out the hole in his chest. Skales watched with defined horror before slithering uncomfortably backwards.

"GET THEM!" shouted the hooded man, but Caroline shot again—this time aiming at Skales. The snake reacted too slowly, and brought down on him the burden of death at which came far too quickly. Nya scrambled to her feet as behind them, at least more than ten other strangers she'd never seen before ran in, bearing weapons of all shapes and sizes, forcing them onto the small army of barely nothing Kai came with. Samokai was split into two by a crowbar. As his head rolled from his neck, Nya watched the green fire within his eye sockets die, turning them into hollow holes drilled into the skull, forever empty.

Nya turned to Cole, who wrestled with the girl—er, Seiko. "Calm _down!" _he said forcefully. "I'm—not—going—to—hurt—you—damnit!"

"_LET ME GO!" _Seiko shrieked. She managed to shove Cole from her body with surprising strength for such a small creature. Dawdling, however, was not part of the agenda; she was bolting quickly for the exit. Cole wrestled himself to his feet, meeting Nya's gaze desperately. "We can't let her get away!" He shouted, taking off after Seiko. "She's dangerous!"

"_Now _you tell me," Nya muttered, but took off after him.

Seiko threw many hurdles for them to leap over, taking bones and debris from past bodies and throwing it towards them, wielding broken things like swords. Nya got the sense that the girl was nothing of the stable type as she dodged a bone floating through the air like a boomerang. Cole turned to punch a restricting snake in the face, only to find himself in the middle of danger; he shouted for Nya to get Seiko, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to choose between some insane freak or the love of her life. It took a hard time of debate before finally choosing to listen to him, ducking the swipe of weapons and leaping the pile of bones in which Seiko harvested weapons from. Nya screamed as Seiko landed a hard bone to her ribs, finding herself collapsing despite the circumstances in a crucial heap to the floor. She heard Cole call for her, but she couldn't stop the feeling of pain pounding in her chest, couldn't rid away the befuddled horror she felt at fearing she'd just done something to hurt her baby. Nya lay there, useless, cradling her stomach carefully, as she realized this _was no great option for her. _She shouldn't be fighting now. Stepping out, though, was out of the question, forcing her back into the battle with a careful, protective hand over her belly. She would let _no one _hurt her baby. _No one. _

Seiko howled again amongst the madness. And then, she did something stupid that Nya would hate her for the rest of her life.

She hid behind Kai. Like she _trusted _him.

Cole stopped, frozen, at Nya's side, yet they were forced to stare, unable to do anything against the thick, crossed arms of Kai with his gloves now missing, revealing his magma hands, shifting their toxins visibly from where Nya stood. He smirked at them haughtily, using one hand to gesture around him. All at once, the fighting ceased, everyone freezing their battles at the sight of him standing with this girl behind him, cowering like she feared everything that moved. Her eyes were wide and unsure as she peered around Kai's arm at Nya and Cole, daring a peek at them before returning quickly back to her hideout. But she didn't resist one more long lasting look at them with her one weird green eye around Kai's bicep.

"Don't you _dare _hurt her or I swear I will _murder you," _Cole hissed ferociously, dropping to a crouch. Nya's brows furrowed. She was important to him?

Kai raised his eyebrow. "I doubt that," he said quietly. "I mean, is this out of love or just the unbearable thought that you let her die at my hands? Really, Cole, what kind of brother are you if you let her rot in an asylum for four and a half years?"

Cole looked momentarily flustered, recovery slowly edging across his features. "You're hilarious," he snarled. "But you can't fool me. Seiko's been at the School all these years."

"Really?" Kai looked disinterested. "Proof?"

Cole scowled. "Shut the hell up before I come over there and kick your fiery ass."

"Ah, so you _believe _me, then. Still, not acting against it…" Kai clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "That doesn't prove love, now does it Seiko?" Kai glanced over his shoulder at her. "Does it, sweetheart? Does he love you?"

After a brief hesitation, Seiko shook her head, burying her face into Kai's arm as she wrapped hers around his waist. Nya caught the briefest of glimpses into the darkness, eyes focusing, and saw that Seiko's once silver eye was turning _green. _

Just like Kai's.

"You're brainwashing her!" she shouted. "Her eyes—you've done something to her!"

Kai shrugged. "Give me an inch…" he waved to the room around him. "Your security on this whole situation hasn't been updated regularly," he commented. "Maybe you'll think better of it next time? Know that every last one of your little family members here aren't even _close _to being safe. Not even _close. _And each and every one of them you see here today is going to be _dead. _Because none of them can leave—due to my precise spells—unless they have become forgotten souls._" _

Cole let out a loud, shrieking snarl, one that rippled throughout the room, silencing the noises to nothing. Nya saw out the corner of her eye, the golden figure of Lloyd jump. With his face morphing into a feral mask, Cole crouched, his knees bending in preparation to pounce. His muscles bunched beneath his suit, fangs extending, eyes turning liquid silver. The mood of the room darkened to startles of gasps and noise of silence while all watched, entranced. Kai seemed unfazed at the frightening sight of him, but Seiko leaped away in fear. Then, Cole gave an animalistic cry. Then, he pounced, landing atop Kai with a quick drop of weight, effortless. Nya shouted for him when Kai grabbed onto his arms, using the liquidic lava to seep into Cole's skin, earning a cry but no more. Cole dove in quickly with his jaws snapping like gum towards Kai's throat. Nya picked up a bone from behind her, and, snapping it in half with heightened strength, knew what she had to do. She ran towards them, using every last ounce of speed. Then, skidding to a stop beside them, she took the pointed end, took a deep breath, and drove it right into Kai's hand.

Nya watched Seiko step away, her daze fought by the insistent swirl of colors in her irises, the way a new silver burst through and combined quickly into a tornado, a vortex of emotions. She rubbed her face in confusion, the green fading into a becoming of silver and gold. She looked around in a daze, wondering where she was, why she was there…and who was screaming in pain.

**LLOYD**

He didn't know what to think, watching Cole become what Jay had said _exactly _that he was right before his eyes, the circus of unusual creatures around him almost too much to bear. Lloyd touched his forehead at the confused pounding beneath the surface. How could Cole be a vampire? How was it possible? It explained plenty of his aspects, like strength, and speed, agility, and not to mention how he'd been able to hear Caroline and Rikku talk earlier when all Lloyd could hear was mumbling. It answered so many questions yet didn't make any sense. He supposed this would have to be discussed later, but for now his ultimate focus had to be on what was happening before him. He had to accept Cole as he was, just as he'd accepted Zane as a robot, and Kai as the hell god's son, even though a better part of him existed only in death in a Realm as opposed to the hell he should've been in. He remembered how both Sensei and Kai had told him there was someone else doing the dirty work in coax of Kai's physical appearance, but figuring out just who was behind the scheme would be some work.

As Nya stabbed Kai in the hand, he stepped forward, prepared to do his part however he could in return for them, but made the brittle mistake of glancing past their wrestling match to the small, feeble young girl standing away from them, hands over her mouth as she looked for some weapon to assist the party with. At the same time, she looked up, catching his gaze head on with a beautiful silver ocean of eyes. Lloyd froze in his tracks as she very slowly, almost imperceptibly, blinked.

And his heart stopped.

**NYA**

Kai screamed in pain once Nya drove her stake deeper into his hand. And she didn't stop there. After shoving aside Cole, Nya took the other shattered half, knowing that this was the only way to save him, the only way to stop Kai from doing the evil that he would continue doing, stop him from killing the parents and from wreaking any more havoc they didn't need onto Ninjago in a poor attempt to rule the world. With her hands shaking above her head and the world moving in slow motion around her, she raised the stake of bone above her head, poising it in preparation. She owed herself a shed of a tear before, with a determined shriek, brought the tip of her bone down with hard violence, using every last ounce of power she had left within her to take it and drive it straight through the yellow metal and into Kai's unbeating heart.

**Whoa. Epic. :3**

**Now…MUST GO TO BED…SPENT ALL AFTERNOON ON THIS…So, not much of an outro, but I will ask you to PLEASE PLEASE **_**PLEASE **_**review, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go have an awesome day/night! Scream at your greens, don't each your beans. XD And, as always,**

—**KAIRI VENOMUS**


	23. Chapter 22: TONGUESPEAKER

**This is a chapter of 17 pages, guys! Whew! It's a lot of work putting into this, but I think you'll like it a lot! I had a guest reviewer ask what Lou was thinking about this, so let's kick off the chapter with a little Lou, huh? :D Good idea, BTW, mystery reviewer! I don't want to post an end note at the end to give you guys **_**more**_** suspense, so I'll say it here: PLEASE REVIEW! , Go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night, scream at yo greens, and most of all, smile & laugh today. Laughter is nature's medicine! **

—**Kairi **

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_22. Tonguespeaker_

LOU DIDN'T KNOW HOW he was supposed to react to the trending battles for dominancy unfolding around him, mixtures of skilled hand-to-hand combat, gun violence, and brutal, self-made formats of weaponry. He was frozen to his spot against the wall, unmoving, with bewildered behemoths of expression to his shaking body, disarming his tremulous hands from adding to the team of gun-wielding officials and multicolored pajama wearers. He couldn't feel the prickling of moving air against his hot skin, nor the shiver of flame against his cheeks as the golden-ridden young boy with miraculously matching hair tones produced flames from the palms of his gloved hands. Lou's focus remained tranquilized against the quick, broad black form of his son, darting at inhuman speeds from mini-battle to mini-battle with nothing but his bare hands. He offered his help as beside the pool of blood, the young, short brown haired girl—the obviously pregnant one—stabbed a bone into the pointy-haired boy's heart. Lou recognized him as one of Cole's "quartet" from his "studies" at the Oppenheimer. What Lou didn't understand, though—and that was quite a lot, a list growing by each second—is why they wanted to _kill _him.

His own eyes couldn't stop trying to follow Cole's fleeting movements, even through the thick wail of the pointy-haired kid's shriek. He'd lose sight of him quickly and find his son randomly appearing once again five feet from where Lou's gaze had originally stopped. He was literally unseen as he darted round the crowds forming before Lou.

And every time he saw his son's pale, unnatural face, he felt a yelp of newfound horror bubble from within him,

The nightmare of their past had long since its event been shoved down deep within Lou, pressed forcibly into a tight package to be stored neatly in a blank, far corner of his mind. But with every glimpse of the monster Cole had become, it brought this foreclosed box closer and closer to the surface, slowly rising inside a bubble of air, about to burst into an explosion of painful truths he daren't think about.

Lou's dread became choking as he looked, once again, to Cole's silver eyes. Their illuminating glow cast dark shadows on the face of the blue snake he challenged, his pointed teeth bore in competition against the shriveling reptile. Its tongue didn't dare a flicker, not even as Cole fell into a crouch, knees bent in the preparation to spring at a moment's notice.

Lou didn't know where to look. Either he look at this horrible, disgusting, inhuman son he'd inherited, or he look to blood and gore strewn about the floor in piles, or to look to his daughter's trembling form as feet away, hands clutching her hair, Seiko slowly seeped into insanity, unsure of what to do. He looked to the floating purple ball glowing above the chaos, lingering with close dives and swerves back upwards as the strange gun people took to shooting it with continuous misses. But he found that, too, was as gruesome a sight as anything. He turned his head, shutting his eyes to block out the screaming for help and the blood and everything he _didn't _want to see.

It was a Sunday. All he'd wanted to do was gather round with the good ol' quartet, practice for the next RBC, which had to be recrafted to a lesser value to replace the stolen Blade Cup Cole and his ninja friends had stolen. Now, the act seemed pointless; not far off in the distant past he remembered the defeat of the giant dragon threatening Ninjago City by the sacred Green Ninja—whose identity he didn't think he'd ever fully know—with every useless, power-sucking villain at bay with the lingering of this ninja's great power. But somewhere along the way when he wasn't looking, wrong must've occurred. Tragedies this fatal could not have developed on their own. Instead, Lou was _not _practicing, but facing immediate death, snakes, and more unhinged body parts he could've cared to see in his lifetime.

One finds it hard to focus on calming the monster of your beating heart when faced with focusing your attention on your own flesh and blood display their vampirism like a gift. Cole flaunted his inhumanity as though it were a brand new gold watch. It sickened Lou's insides as he shriveled against the wall, swimming in his own indiscretions and vulgar memories.

"Where's Jay?" asked the female of the couple beside him, her voice octaves squeaking like a terrible soprano. Lou wrinkled his nose, mustache twitching against his lip. "I don't see him!"

"I don't see him either," said the male. "Where is he? Jay? Jay! Jay, ya out there, son?"

_Son. _Lou's stomach jerked.

And Cole lunged.

Right in front of him. It was like watching a dog fight. Jaws snapped, blood flew, and noises that chilled Lou to the bone traveled through the air at tremendous notches. The snake hissed like Lou's cat, Alto, did when it was approached by a potentially threatening entity or animal. Lou had gotten used to these animal traits as time went on, but seeing his son make similar feral noises brought him to an instantaneous, sickened decision that he toss Alto to the neighbors and leave it with a note—just as well he'd do with Cole. While blood poured from his jowls, Lou was horrified, seeing such in his son. What was this?

His son, a vampire. And his daughter, insane.

But then, a second later, he decided with his ultimate perfection that no son or daughter of his would carry such plaguing diseases and imperfections. No, these monsters of grueling insanities could not be anything of his blood; Lou Mitsuhide was a man of class, of perfection in fine arts, performing arts, and just about everything that came in between; he'd have no children if they couldn't be at least _half _decent.

He needed to find a way out.

**NYA**

From beneath her hands, Kai shrieked, using his strength to hurl her from his body with immense proclamations of hell damnation. Nya landed lightly on her feet. Kai stumbled to his own, grappling for the wooden bone sticking from the metallic shield of his chest, trying with his own might to somehow wrench it free of his veins and heart. Yet it took a great strength Kai was now lacking at his pierced heart. Nya used her own might to take a stand, leaping into the air. As though on a bicycle she kicked her feet out, landing multiple kicks against his head, sending him back to the ground with a heavy clatter. Nya tried to hide her emotions from herself at what she was doing to her own beloved brother, but what he'd become was far worse than any sort of future she'd imagined for him out of her whimsical daydreams of their futures as a younger girl. This fate was nowhere near that of what Kai deserved. He was tainted by something far greater than himself. Nya wasn't about to let him hurt himself this way. In her mind sprung up an old saying her father used to whisper in the faint of night, mumbles by candlelight: _"Don't let your pride leave you all alone." _

That was exactly where Kai would end up if he continued to let this sorrowful entity of inglorious manners consume him. Nya was prepared to erase these things from him completely with whatever tools provided for her. Wielding another bone, now split again into two, she twirled them in her fingers. In her time with Sensei Wu and Lloyd while the boys were out doing their thing, she often had plenty of time to observe just how the art of Spinjitzu and weapon usage worked. Now, she was glad she paid attention. Kai rolled on the floor in pain as the hooded man stood by, watching from beneath his hood with no intent to neither move nor defend him. She could feel the Overlord's taunting from above her, yet ignored it with her inner strength, hurling the next bone's pointed end towards Kai again as he struggled to stand. Startled, it caught his arm, digging through the cheap black fabric with the pound of blood through the hole. Nya herself was bewildered to see that what came through was not red, but _black, _pouring out his arm and drizzling to the floor in deathly acidic pools. Its poison hissed against the floor as it ate through the marble. She gasped, using it as motivation further into her sibling's rescue. Obviously, this was no purposeful Kai; she'd know her brother better than anyone would and his reaction would not consist of relying on a hooded stranger or black blood. Angr_ier, _Nya threw the next javelin of bone to his skin again.

"Eloquim, you fool!" shouted Kai, groping for it as he fell to his knees. "_Do _something!"

Nya kicked him in the head. _I'm sorry, Kai, _she thought with a distant, faint memory lingering in her mind, of their childhood together. Kai had loved her so much, cared about her the way she cherished. Though he always believed he were older, for he stood taller and wider than she as the years struggled by; this was a fantasy his parents figured they let him believe to hide the illegal adoption of the mysterious, hotheaded young boy from the middle of the wood. Nya watched him fall to the floor in a bloody black mass. She may be recalling such virtuous memories now, as she stabbed to death someone who took the shape of her brother, but deep down Nya knew that this strange shape-taker was nowhere near her brother. The way he spoke gave dead away the true identity of him. For one, Kai never said _you fool…_

"I refuse," said Eloquim, the hooded man, slowly, "to participate. Instead, I shall wait for this map to bleed the true location of the Shadow Key. And it will be _mine."_

Kai glared insufferably back at the tall, dark creature, hands curled around its staff with scaly black hands, claws long and white, tapping against the gold as though that of a pendulum. Nya prepared herself for a roundhouse kick to take Kai completely down when her senses told her to pause the sibling-saving to hear what may take place next in the verbal exchange.

"_What?!" _Kai gasped, exasperated. He made pained guttural noises from beneath the pool tricking from his lips. "You—_deceived—_me?"

"But of course!" Eloquim laughed loudly, clearly. Nya crouched low. "Did you honestly believe I'd pair with _you, _the silly soul of a ragged, impulsive boy and the haunting memory of a deadly foe? What kind of monstrosity do you think I am? Following you! Petty! I slinked to your partial demands as order to get what I wanted. Now, with your consent, I am able to walk freely among the sunlight and rise myself an army of villains greater than myself! With this map I will have _all the power ever created _to unleash the finest from the deepest pits of hell!"

Nya's eyes shifted from Kai's shocked face to the shadow of Eloquim's hood. She could feel an anger bubbling from her enemies quickly with newfound rivalries performing themselves vivaciously through the air. She wanted to act, but felt herself pausing to examine this further as Kai struggled for strength to continue. She hardly knew how he'd lasted so long with a bone in his heart—but at the same time, she didn't think he existed much anymore either…

"I—I—you evil—I will kill you," sputtered Kai. He fell to his hands and knees, body trembling with the inability to truly hold his weight any longer. Black blood dripped from his wounds in sickening gushes. Nya couldn't force herself to find a pleasure in blood that had a tainted, uncanny consistency such as the one pooling to the floor in the shadow of Kai's body. Too thick, too heavy, too…_black. _

"I dare you to try," Eloquim chuckled. "You're dying again."

"Death cannot part us," gasped Kai.

"Ah," the hooded figure swayed gently, "but it _already has…"_

Blood poured out Kai's mouth as he coughed it, spilling in thick pools to the dark marble as it ruined the old fortress for the dead. Nya recoiled at its chunky, sloppy wet sounds. She felt a racketing shiver course through her, rising the hair of her arms to an erect position, making her want to retch away the blood she'd already had this morning. Nya couldn't bear it any longer and turned away, though her ears peaked in ultimate sensory projection, allowing her to eavesdrop with her hand over her mouth and tears shrugging out her eyes.

"You cannot place your name in my ruling any longer," hissed Eloquim through clenched teeth. "You have forgotten me, my Lord, but forgotten is a _forbidden word. _Your stupidity is vile and erratic. I therefore _ban _you from ruling anything once I find that Key. With it, you will be _thrown _off your perch of the throne and it _will _be mine, you soul-harvesting demon."

"You—cannot—_ban _—me! I rule the Underworld!" coughed Kai with a clap of waterlike sounds. He'd fallen into his own blood.

"No longer," spat Eloquim. "You are _defeated—_and by that silly little creature over there! Without your son to take your place on the throne, your first in command must take place. And with Samokai dead, that leaves _me, _your _second in command!" _A loud laughter took to the sky. Nya felt her bones tremor inside of her flesh. It appeared that through this haze she was finally beginning to understand what revelations she'd acquired previously. Her assumptions had been right. And now, they were being brought to life. She clenched her hands together with the rough beating of her heart inside of her ribcage.

"_Bow down, Elathan!" _screamed Eloquim. _"Bow to your new leader! BOOOWWW!" _

His scream shook the temple so roughly it knocked aside loose cavings above them, forcing their rocky substances to fall from the ceiling. Age had become this once-loved place now forgotten. Nya glanced up just in time to see a chunk of sculpted rock hurdling towards her at immense speeds—if not for Cole, who called her name and grabbed her from the way, she would've flattened like a pancake beneath it. He yanked her towards him, crushing her to his comforting form for the first time in literal, true ages, allowing her to press her face into the warm curve of his arm for a brief, blissful moment. With his arms clasped tightly around her, Nya felt safe, warm inside of him. She wished this were a more reduced level of stress time so she could bury her face into his skin and just forget everything for the gratitude of relinquished moments, though duty ever-calling refused to allow her such slack. Nya grabbed handfuls of his shirt. It took her a moment to realize, through the loud shouting of Eloquim's dominant voice and extremely inconvenient time, that there was nowhere else she'd rather be. Not in Jay's arms, not in Kai's, but in Cole's. Just where she belonged.

She loved him. Nya felt a jolt as she thought it to herself. She had never said it to herself _or _Cole, never revealing it to either of them. It had taken her long to admit her dwindling affections to Jay, before Cole had ever swept her off her feet, but now the truths were obvious within herself. Though it pained her to know how they'd gotten here, she didn't regret falling for him, not even in the slightest. It only pained her to know that she'd hurt so many people in the process. Multiple ways could've taken this down a completely different path, one that possibly could've been less ruining and more mending. Past changing was completely impossible, however, and there was only time to think it as she raised her face to his, touching Cole's throat tenderly in a momentarily precious few seconds. It was through the touch that Nya used what Cole had taught her once in their nocturnal lessons, a quick voice of reason in the peak of doubt. She hoped it, as it gave her, would give Cole a sense of security and expression at the quickest and baddest of times, like this one they inhabited now.

Nya met Cole's grey eyes as he glanced down at her, eyebrows bowed in concern, visible below his side-swept bangs. Her fingertips touched his throat, feeling the slight pound of his heart through his jugular. With it, she sent him the thought she hoped he heard, projecting it through the most emotional things she could experience that moment:

_I love you. _

It was barely a whisper in her mind, but it made his eyebrows rise for a brief second. She thought he was going to just look at her like she was kinky the rest of the day, but he gave her a wide, happy smile, even in this darkness. He reached up to touch her temple gently, though Nya felt no projection though his touch. For a moment, she was disappointed, yet one thing she'd learned over the course of her growing relationship with Cole is that he was _never _one to disappoint.

Cole's lips touched her forehead, and she heard his voice in her mind, soothing like a melody hummed to a child to calm in the midst of a grave storm. Warmth filled her heart at the sound of him:

_I love you too. _

**LLOYD**

Lloyd stumbled on his feet, barely caving into the floor with as much grace as a Neanderthal juggling teacups, trying to find his footing. He felt momentarily giddy, drowsy, and unconfined to the strict orders of his usual composure. His calmness escaped him with quick, channeling breaths puffing out his mouth and into the air, flying away with such gall to just _leave _him like that. His boots caught cuffs of small rock on the floor while the rest of it continued to crack from the ceiling. With Eloquim's shriek had come a deadly tremor through the Temple, a place Lloyd had found using his newfound weapon, a power that came from within him but also played visibly on his skin: his tattoo. It held strange capabilities he was both proud and faintly fearful of. He didn't understand what it was or what it was meant for, things his mother could probably steer out for him once they rid her of this crumpling place. There were loud, ear-splitting cracks screeching throughout the Temple's barricade as its roof began to shatter with the hooded man's shrill scream.

The tattoo, Lloyd found, was drawn to coded maps instead of electronic ones. The far, wrinkled paper as tall as a human and wide as six pressed against the wall in the electronics room aboard the _Bounty 2 _had drawn him towards it, a moth to a flickering flame. His right hand raised, the tattoo's pupil of green had glowed a silken color as he drew his fingertips across the old paper; once nearing the _Maolo _town—their original destination, this cemetery of a place—it had sent a lingering spark rippling up his arm. That was when, Lloyd decided, he had learned only a _sliver _of what this thing could do.

He trusted his instincts. Lloyd jumped out of the way as the ceiling above him began its unlawful descent. Where he'd stood landed a bitter chunk of black cement. His senses, still jumbled, refused to come together into one entity; he'd been fine until he'd looked at that black-haired girl standing cluelessly beyond Eloquim's death rage. He lost sight of her now as he ran towards his mother.

Misako's arms wrapped around him, and for a second he felt successful. He'd done what he'd come for, yet however now they must find a way to leave this place through this awful maze of bodies and chunks of ceiling. The Clockwork Army—only few had come to assist, since the majority of them were still trying to wake up from their hell in the coffins—consisted wholly of Caroline, Rikku, the black boy Tobias, a small, Chinese girl named Ming, and a snarling brown-haired boy they called "Ripsaw." Each were equipped with a gun, ammunition, and their bare fists in which they used to pound the freaking _crap _out of the snakes that just came slithering in by the dozens. Lloyd had learned over time that the snakes weren't independent creatures, instead relying on higher entities to demand them and control their every move. Now, once again, they were allowing themselves to be used and, this time, killed.

Misako stroked Lloyd's head. Her voice came pleading, desperate in his ear. "Lloyd, I—"

"Mom," he kissed her cheek with an equally as nervous, quick spoken word, "I'd love to hear it, but right now, we have to get the hell out of here."

Whoa. Normally, Lloyd would've meandered to examine the feeling of saying _hell _in that context for the first time, but his mind remained elsewhere, figuring the complexities of weaving his way towards the door with a commanding call to his team of ninja and droids. He didn't know how well he'd be able to manage. There were bodies to stumble over everywhere, plus Pythor's huge form lying dead in the slick pools of green blood that seeped through every hole in the scales of the snakes. He held onto her arms as he looked beyond her. Julien was just jogging to their side, whereas in the distance Lloyd caught sight of what looked strangely like Jay's parents and a guy with a really bushy mustache and striped vest. "What's going on here?" he asked while watching the three shrink against the wall. "Who are they?"

"They're parents…of the other ninjas. Cole and Jay. Kai wanted to kill us," gasped Julien. Misako continued for him before he had the chance to speak: "To complete his transition he needed the blood of one of us that fit his riddle," she said, breathless. "He picked me."

Lloyd's hands on her waist froze. He took a moment to mentally recover. "Then let's get you guys _out _of here. I—"

A hand clapped down on his shoulder.

Lloyd whirled, prepared, hands glowing and sparking with a jolt of electricity that would force away any offender, but he found the slick, broad form of Rikku standing behind him, cocking his gun. "I'll take them to the entrance," he said in his low, smooth voice. "You get those ones over there." He nodded to the other parents. "Beware falling objects," Rikku cautioned as he reached out his hand for Misako to take. She grabbed onto Julien, pulling him close. She gave Lloyd one last pleading look, a look that Lloyd wouldn't ever see again by the time this day was over. But he didn't know that, and he patted her shoulder gently like that would save her life.

"Beware dead bodies," he told Rikku. "They're pretty rank."

Then he was gone.

Lloyd's Spinjitzu wove him quickly around while he landed safely in front of the other parents, catching their attention quickly as his feet replanted themselves to the ground. He held out his hands in front of him. "We have to get you out of here, fast," he said. "I don't know how much longer this place will hold up."

The moustache man stared at him, white as a sheet. _That must be Cole's dad, _he thought, heart dropping low in his chest, while Jay's parents' reaction was far different and less negative.

"Oh, look, Edna!" cried Jay's father. "It's the Green Ninja!"

"He's not green, though," Edna protested.

"Yes," Lloyd said quickly, trying to please them to make them move quicker towards the entrance as he caught sight of Ming waving her hands for him to hurry. He maneuvered them aside from the belligerent, falling objects and bodies, pushing them gently from behind. "I am. I'm the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master. Now, just…don't step in that. It stains clothes."

"Oh, Ed!" Edna grabbed her husband's hand. "He's a total twist-itzu master!"

"_Spin_jitzu," Lloyd corrected.

"Take a note, Edna, we met a celebrity!" Ed turned to face Lloyd. "Oh, you know Jay! Where is he, by chance? I don't see him."

Lloyd didn't want to be the one to admit Jay deserted them. Sheepishly he wracked his brain for some kind of excuse. "Uh, lunch break. Now—hey! Dead body! Careful," he warned as they walked over Pythor's tail. Ming poised her hands on her hips, dressed in yoga pants and a blood-stained white T-shirt. At the sight of her, Ed and Edna shriveled back a bit.

"_Z__ǒ__u de g__è__ng ku__à__i," _Ming hissed.

Ed and Edna exchanged weary glances between each other. "What did she say?" whispered Edna to her husband.

"Walk faster!" Lloyd translated. He poked them in the back. "She's going to take you to the entrance. GO!" He tapped Cole's father's back, forcing him further into the writhing mass of moving bodies. Ming grabbed ahold of them and hustled them past what Lloyd's eyes could little offer him. With the parents in the process of escaping, he turned in expectation of more issues to find Cole pushing Nya away with Tobias.

Tobias held out a dark hand for Nya. "Come with me," he said in a booming, _low _voice. "To this way we shall escape."

Flustered, Nya looked back at Cole. "But—you?"

Cole shook his head. "Ninja's gotta do what a ninja's gotta do, sweetheart." Tobias didn't wait any longer for shenanigans to force her away from them. Lloyd jogged towards him while Caroline swiftly landed at his side, small boots clasping against the floor with a satisfying thud. They turned to the dark Evergloom of Eloquim's writhing dust, the dying form of Kai at his feet enveloped in a thick black smog, curling around his body. With a discerning moan, what was once Kai began to slowly morph into something else, only the shape visible beneath the smoke. The three ninja waited as Eloquim ducked into the blood red water to grab, from the shadow dangling-by-a-thread bell, a piece of paper from its watery grasp. He used one hand to shake out excess water, for the map seemed completely dry even after its neat soak in the liquid. Lloyd's fists clenched.

"Ah, the map," he murmured without turning to them. "Isn't it beautiful?"

It wasn't Lloyd who spoke then in defiance, but rather the voice of reason and ration over his still-blurry mind. "Hand over the map, fiend," Caroline said loudly, clenching her gloved hands. Her shoulder blade protectors were a whitish blue, jutting out in quick, pointy glaciers on her shoulders. They were slick and wet like _real _ice. It was legitimately amazing to see, Lloyd thought at random, how cool her suit looked.

Eloquim turned. "Oh, fiend, is it?" He chuckled. "I'd sooner have assumed we were friends, you and I!"

"You're nuts, then," Cole cracked his knuckles. Lloyd saw his shoulder gear was made of rocks, formations on the tops of his arms. They were hard and even dirty as though they were real. "We'd never even friend you on social networking."

Eloquim snorted. "Nor would I _accept _your friend request." His next commentary seemed far beyond them, a call over their heads. "Since our former company is gone, you can now close the doors from whence these creatures came!" The three ninja turned to watch the door slowly close as bodies pushed against it to clasp them shut and lock inside the three ninja aghast. There were no more living snakes yet rather two living men, shoving aside the wide doors until they shut with a loud _slam _that channeled throughout the barricade like quick unsubtle flecks of sound. Without the writhing mass of snakes and droids and humans, this place was empty, with only the ninja, Eloquim, Kai-Wrapped-In-Black, the men, and the Overlord hovering quietly beside the hooded entity to inhabit it.

The two men—well, rather, a boy and a man—started towards them, lifting their feet to avoid stepping on any of the deceased creatures. Dressed in traditional samurai suits minus the ridiculous helmets, the dark haired males walked towards them, the boy stumbling, the man graceful. Lloyd didn't know either of them yet felt they were supposed to hold a certain dwelling significance to him somehow.

Or, maybe, to Cole.

"_Naoki?!" _gasped Cole lowly. "Masao?"

"Oops," Eloquim said from behind them. "Didn't you know, boy? They work for _me." _

Cole whirled. Lloyd was still confused on how he knew them. "You're _brainwashing _them!" He accused.

Eloquim shook his head as above, the Overlord twittered like an excited bird. "No," Eloquim murmured. "No, I didn't. You see, my little ninjas," the entity waved his hand around him in retribution of this place they now ruined with their battles, a piece of time destroyed by hate. "Everything that has happened to you in this past week or so has been _my _doing. Everything that has happened was _preplanned. _This all was a format of myself in the past planning, triggering events that led up to this one, beautiful moment. You see, your Sensei…I never did that, though I was planning to end him. It was just a spur of great luck that he ever died the way he did!"

"He was murdered," Lloyd stated after thinking hard beyond his faint memory of what Sensei Wu had told him in the Elemental Realm before their departure. "_You _killed him."

"Not I," Eloquim sighed, "though that would've been beautiful on my part. But it _is _I who commanded that herb woman to give you that spider," Eloquim pointed to Lloyd's chest, holding out a scaly finger. Lloyd recoiled, unsure of himself. "It is _I _who let the spider out, dear boy. It is _I _who commanded it to bite you. I knew you'd run," Eloquim sighed again dreamily, "to your friends for help. I knew you'd see their terrific angst and know you needed help elsewhere. I knew you'd run again for someone else's hand in scheming your way out. So I offered you a chance." Eloquim turned to face the bell. Cole started forward in aggression, but Lloyd held out his hand, rapt at the unveiling of truth before them. "I gave you this map perhaps too soon, but I was ever desperate," he murmured. "I needed someone to decode it for me. You see, I cannot read these hieroglyphics. I do not know their language. But two in existence _do. _I asked you to find one of the first three who could, but…sadly..."

"Wait a second," Cole interrupted. His eyebrows furrowed. "You said there are only _two _in existence who can read it. Then you said _three."_

"Alas," Eloquim held out his hands to his sides, one clasping his staff, the other cradling the map. "There were three. Yet one is now being autopsied for murder."

"Who?" Lloyd felt horror bubbling up in his chest.

Eloquim pulled his staff to his chest. "Young Rufus McAllister, I believe. Poor chap. Elathan got to him before I had the chance to interrogate him properly. However well, there are still two remaining, but one is still a little iffy. I can't risk even the _slightest _of words being mixed up."

Cole threw out words as inside, Lloyd went numb. "Who's Elathan?"

The Overlord dropped before his face quickly, forcing a hiss out of Cole, but the man who'd shut the door appeared behind him and pointed a wooden stake at his back where his heart lay. "_Elathan," _hissed the Overlord, _"was the former King of the Underworld." _

Lloyd's mind recognized the name, yet not from previous knowledge. Once again it was the tumors of the tattoo working their lessons into his mind. "Kai's dad," he murmured quietly.

"Oh, yes," Eloquim responded. "It is he who dared protect his son from my wrath. But when I killed poor little Kai…well, Elathan's ruling pretentiousness somehow worked its way back into his brain. He took over the half of Kai's soul I had left to keep me from 'tainting' it, yet he himself was prepared to do whatever it took to release himself from the pits of the Underworld. This transition," Eloquim waved to the pool of blood, "was to not bring Kai his true powers, but to bring _himself_ Kai's powers and his own truest potential, which also could release him second by second closer into the form he inhabits in this realm. However, I didn't want that. I am the rightful leader of the Underworld. I have your little girlfriend to thank for doing the dirty work." Eloquim chuckled. "Now, all I must have is the Tonguespeaker read this map for me and all will be well."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "You don't _have _a Tonguespeaker," he snapped. "And you're not getting anyone to read that map."

Instead of responding to that, Eloquim stroked his staff. His face still yet remained unrevealed. "Everything that happened to you, Green Ninja, has happened at my hand. I made that storm in the desert that possessed Kai to throw Cole over the edge, where the residents of Samokai Village—miraculously my number one loyal family, the Muras." He nodded to Naoki and Masao, two of which names Lloyd didn't know belonged to what face. "They were to heal him and, from his brainwashed state, turn him into a weapon to use against you. It worked just fine. All of them," Eloquim said directly to Cole, "were on my side all along. Samokai commanded them under my orders to do as they could. That family was to use you and turn you to a _weapon. _They are _evil. _It is called Samokai's Village for a reason! Ellecia, Naoki, Masao, Sakura—they all are under my power. It is I who forced the sun's rays to seem deeper than they were, which forced your robot friend into insanity, seeing things in the desert. I made Elathan kill your previous Ice Ninja. I stabbed Kai with my dagger to force half his soul to my possession and the other half to death. I am killing your _family!" _Eloquim's laughter was loud, persistent. "I have murdered more than one! I killed your little brother, Angus," snapped Eloquim. Caroline gasped. "I killed your sister Avery." His gaze turned to Cole. "I killed your mother with my Shadow Dancer, the one who turned you to a vampire, and I killed your little sister none too long ago, though her return from the dead is most abnormal. And _you," _Eloquim turned quickly to Lloyd, "I killed your brothers, your best friends, drove your living friend away. And if you don't read this damn map for me, I sure as hell will kill the rest of them, too."

Caroline burst into sobs. Cole stood frozen in shock. Lloyd tried to stutter out what he could with his fragmented thoughts. "But—I—I can't read that."

Eloquim smiled. "Oh, but you _can, _dear boy," he whispered. "There is only one reason I kidnapped your mother, and that was to bring you here. She can't read that map worth a damn. She's too old to remember the language properly. But _you, _you have the Eye! You are the Tonguespeaker. It will tell you _just _how to read it, as it's told you _everything else." _

Lloyd's head daren't wrap around this properly, loose binds threatening to come unloose. "A-and if I don't?" He stuttered.

Eloquim tapped his staff to the broken ground rhythmically. "Then look up."

Lloyd's head tilted backwards, and he found himself staring horrifically upwards at the dangling, writhing forms above him, suspended by some foreign witchcraft, of Darreth, Seiko, Garmadon, and Jay. And each of them had a pointed, supernaturally held knife pointed directly at their hearts.


	24. Chapter 23: THE HUMANITY SWITCH

_**19 PAGES! Whooo long chapter. . **_**But it's an awesome one, I assure you. SO PLEASE REVIEW! **

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

_23. The Humanity Switch_

"UH, HEY GUYS," JAY nervously stuttered, ramrod straight as he dangled uselessly in the air beside the bell that hung only by chance rather than what little remained of the ceiling. Lloyd saw his obvious fear plastered beneath the lies of his face, a ceramic calm taped over the true issue. He couldn't say he didn't feel as equally flustered at the discovery of his new houseguests. His eyes lingered on each of them with a bubble of shout in his throat. Garmadon blinked sorrowfully at him. Lloyd finally was able to grasp his voice from its shrivel in the corner of his voice box with a firm grip, yanking it out his mouth in a call that sounded like someone was choking him half to death.

"Dad!" He gasped. "Jay! _Darreth!" _

"Why, hello," Darreth's voice was spoken through the corner of his mouth. His cheek was swelled too puffery, overflowing onto his mouth, squeezing shut his blackened eye. Dried blood caked in blackened icing across the skin beneath his nose. "Nice to see you."

Lloyd couldn't hide his emotions from flooding his face. "What have they done to you?!"

"Just gave me a few taps," said Darreth. He sounded as confident as ever. It was something that made Lloyd want to laugh and cry at the sight of his friend tattered and beaten bloody. "But I persevere! The brown ninja _never _quits!" He didn't look half as sure of himself as he probably could have, something he wasn't blamed for in such a crappy situation.

"_Seiko!" _screamed Cole from beside Lloyd, rattling him further out of sorts. He saw the younger girl that he'd found himself staring at uncontrollably, kicking her feet in a life-threatening struggle. The pointed knife inched closer to her heart as she swung her body parts in a deathly race to revive herself somehow from this sickening dream. "Seiko, sweetheart, _don't move!" _

The sound of her name eclipsed Lloyd's thoughts for a brief, starstruck moment. _Seiko, _he thought quietly to himself, marveling at the way it traveled across his lips while mouthing it. The thought of it teased him at the back of his mind. Lloyd's understanding of the world dared to dim in the glow of his bright, inner light, sending his heart dashing madly throughout his insides, filling him with warmth and pleasure. _Seiko, _he thought again, cheeks heating in the cool sweat. She was breathing hard from above him, panting loudly for all to hear. He wouldn't have been surprised if he could hear her own heart fly within her chest in consternation. The qualm of infinite, unsolved queries painted her ivory cheeks a rosy color. Lloyd's lips parted as his throat began to close again, shutting out his voice. He didn't know what was wrong with him, what made the repugnant twirl inside his stomach spin its baton more than as welcomed. She was scared, some pulsing part of his brain told her, and she didn't understand what was happening. Cole's calls to her only agitated her bantam body more. Before he quite understood what began of himself he found the words sprawling from his lips in giant leaps:

"_Réngrán tíngliú, niánq__ī__ng _Seiko_. Y__ī__qi__è__ d__ō__u h__ě__n h__ǎ__o." _

The words spoken of old Chinese seemed to soothe her from within; Seiko's picayune tantrum ceased after the quick, gentle command from Lloyd's mouth. He frowned to himself after he realized what he'd done. _I don't speak Chinese, _he thought of himself, regarding his thoughts concisely before the recognition grasped him. He looked to the back of his hand.

_The Eye. _The Eye told him how.

Cole bumped him with his elbow. _"How did you know to say that?" _he hissed beneath his breath, hot air stirring the mild waves of hair beside his ear. _"_Our mother used to say that to us during storms to calm her down. It worked every time."

"I…" Lloyd tried to utter a simple answer, but just that self-acknowledging vowel summed up what it really was. The Eye, just as Eloquim had laughed, truly did know everything. It saw all, therefore knowing all. It only now came to his comprehension that he was becoming more sagacious. He was able to apprehend things that were unspoken, and to wits beyond even that. He now became aware of the fact that Ming had said Chinese earlier and in his daze Lloyd had been perfectly able to know what she said, when he only had acquired knowledge of brief words as _bathroom _and _sausage _in the language roughly before. Detestation overcame him as Lloyd concluded that yes, if he could speak even the complexities of _Chinese_ now, he'd be able to speak the old tongue of the Shadow Dancers offered to him on the paper Eloquim now held out enthusiastically. He glanced back upwards at Jay, his father, Darreth, and Seiko with a gloom of his heart.

"Your friends will suffer a terrible consequence if you don't follow my direct orders," snapped the gravelly voice of Eloquim. "I shall drive a knife through each of them if you dare refuse. I don't suppose you'd like to willingly suffer the loss of another loved one, would you?"

"_Don't do it, Lloyd!" _called Garmadon from above him. Lloyd shifted anxiously from foot to foot, head snapping upwards. His breathing came ragged and uneven. "If you do, all hell will release onto earth, and then your consequences will be _much _worse!"

Lloyd shook his head. He didn't know how he could do this. If he didn't read the map for Eloquim, the last of his love ones would be stabbed to death, and he didn't know if he could survive this knowing it was he who forced the blade upon them without even touching it with his skin; his choices would be the ones who wielded the weapons that day. If he _did _read it, the gate to hell would swing wide, allowing every hell-bent creature to slither, crawl, skip, trot, and any other lengthy means of transportation onto this realm from a world deep below their feet. There was no peaceful loophole to this situation. It was one of the few in existence that created the faulty line, the infamous _either you do or either you don't _onto the world. There was no redemption from whence these future spites could ever come.

"We're not worthy!" added Jay unhelpfully. "Don't you dare choose us over that map! Our lives aren't worth the millions it will take if you _do _pick reading it!"

Lloyd struggled with his internal conflicts. How could he choose hell? How could he chose the death of his loved ones? Why was all this focal stress placed on _him, _a stupid kid caught in the middle of something far, plenty times bigger than himself?

"Uh…" Darreth uncomfortably scratched his arm, an awkward movement in the sky. "You know, death isn't sounding too righteous right now…"

Garmadon looked to him solemnly. He wore the same as he did in the Elemental Realm, a grey sweater accompanied by black pants. It felt like he'd been plucked right off one page into the next. It didn't seem like Garmadon had left a changed man, yet he'd been through equally as mortifying with just an hour lag time. Lloyd didn't quite know how to determine what the feeling hidden inside him actually meant. Was he really _debating _with himself whether or not he wanted to leave Garmadon for dead? What kind of monster must he be to pause?

He knew, for sure, he couldn't risk losing Jay. If Jay wanted to run away, fine, but at least that way there was dim reassurance that his heart still remained unpunctured by a knife's cutting blade. Lloyd also was aware that letting go of Darreth would be extremely, heartwrenchingly difficult. He tried to imagine the gap in his life if he were to go through with their end of the plan and let them die. The outcome was nothing near a pleasant fairy tale ending like he would've hoped it would be, so many years in the distance. Either road he chose led to pain. Hadn't he already experienced enough?

He glanced to Seiko again. She'd squeezed shut her eyes. But none too far past a moment he looked at her, she peeked at him from beneath her thin curtain of ebony hair. Their eyes met again, and once more he experienced a shocking, tingling feeling rise within him. He didn't know any more about her than the fact that her name was Seiko and she moved pretty quick for a human girl, though she seemed to strangely have the largest of impacts on him.

_Am I really willing to risk losing them? _He thought, shrinking to his knees against the floor. He feared if he stood any longer they'd die beneath him anyway. The granite beneath him chipped and dove with the impact of projectiles and rocks falling from the sky earlier. He picked at a scratch while blinking away frustrations.

_But am I willing to risk my own life and possibly all of Ninjago's to save them? _

"Don't even consider it!" shouted Jay, drawing him from his thoughts with his shrill cry. "Just tell the bastard _no _and get it over with!"

But Lloyd hesitated. His inner sanctums offered no assistance. What was he to do now? Let them free? Let them slave? He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. Cole reached down and rubbed his back. "Hey, kiddo," Cole whispered quietly. At the touch of Lloyd's intense muscles, the vampire boy used exceedingly high pressured power points with the tips of his fingers to knead gently into Lloyd's skin. It felt _marvelous. _"Just take deep breaths. Keep your head above water."

"_Tick, tock," _murmured Eloquim. Memories of Elathan's form-bending and mirage-flourishing kidnap attempt of Kai's mother's ring flashed like strobe lights throughout Lloyd's malfunctioning brain. "Make your choice in the next five seconds or all hell will begin."

Lloyd's mouth opened wide, but no voice would come, not over the rushing of indecision clogging his windpipe.

"Very well," Eloquim sighed, taking his turn to stroke the rough edge of the map. "Then I suppose your friend will enjoy _this!" _

Jay shrieked. Lloyd's head snapped up, heart pounding, chest heaving. Jay doubled over in pain as the knife _slowly _began to carve its way into his stomach. Blood fell from the air onto the floor, splattering in tiny pools from the gained momentum. It fell like raindrops did in the middle of a rainstorm—slowly, surely, prominently. Lloyd's knees would've given from below him had he been standing. Jay held onto the hilt. He tried to force it away from his body, but the supernaturally charged force didn't want him to, and cut deeper into his belly, sending another wave to fall from the sky in red rain drops, only this time fatter ones. Lloyd's arms trembled with the sight of him. "No, Lloyd," coughed Jay, in obvious agony, but he tried his hardest to cover it up. "Don't"—_cough—_"do it! Don't listen to him!"

Lloyd felt like his weight could no longer be supported, not even by his knees. His wrists felt weak, a clairvoyance when he saw bloodshed on innocence. He could practically feel the blood of his veins travelling through him. It made him sick to his stomach. "But Jay—he's _hurting _you, and I can't-I-"

"_Tick, tock, tick, TOCK." _Persistent now, Eloquim's bare hands clasped the ball head of his staff, resting at ease against its golden ingredients from hell. The knife blade wedged itself a little deeper into Jay's skin. He tried desperately to cover up his cry, but the Eye wasn't prepared to let it go unheard; every noise Jay _restrained _from making ended up singing jagged notes in the cave of Lloyd's skull. First time round, he covered his ears to somehow force out the screams, but they stayed in his mind, almost as part of his thought process but a voice far deeper, far louder than any mental chit-chat he could create on his own.

"Jay!" Lloyd gasped. He felt tears dribble down his cheeks at the strangled, muffled noises he could hear within his skull. Damn it, he was crying again. Jay gave a "shriek" again, one Lloyd could only hear inside of himself. He looked to the Eye. Was it with him, on his side, or _against _him?

"Nope, I'm _fine," _Jay coughed—and this time, blood flew out his mouth. It landed on the ground with a deafening splatter. To this Lloyd jumped in bewilderment, wincing hard at the sight of it. His wrists pounded worse.

Lloyd wrenched his eyes away to glare up at the blackened figure of the Shadow Dancer. _He knew I'd come here to save my mother, _he thought as repetition of what the creature had already happily admitted. _He knew I'd come here so he could torture me with this. It's never enough for him to just keep killing the people I love. But am I really willing to risk theirs? Who will I have left then? I lost Kai already and it feels like someone punched a hole through my chest. I can't feel my heartbeat without adrenaline and gore enveloping me in its monstrosities. He's turning me into a hollow fiend, just like him. Unable to feel. That's exactly who I'll turn into if I continue to let him kill off my family and my friends like this. _

_But if I chose to save them and read the map…then it won't matter because we'll all be dead anyway. _

Frustrated, Lloyd jammed the heels of his hands into his eyes. "_Stop hurting him!" _He begged of the creature, but it only shook its head, black lips visible, pointy yellowed teeth gleaming in pride beneath that freaking stupid hood.

Eloquim tapped his staff on the floor. "Then _read. My. Map." _

The Eye burned his skin. It was telling him something, but Lloyd couldn't seem to hear the vagrant message it was sending through his brain. He felt strangled and alone in this awful corner of the world, where everything always relied on him. Forced to grow up too fast, Lloyd Garmadon had never quite had as much of a responsibility as he did now, a life-or-death situation crowing him with beaks and talons as sharp as the words he listened to that day. The Green Ninja side of him wanted him to tell Eloquim to go to hell, he'd never read his map; but the Lloyd part of him—the sliver of him that still believed in lost childhood, believed in causing ruckus that irritated the crap out of everyone but made them love him more—didn't want to risk his friends for it. All his life, since thrown into Darkley's, Lloyd had no one. And now, when he actually _did, _they were being taken from him.

Was it an omen? Did it mean that Lloyd was meant to be all alone?

"No," he said. He tried to sound defiant, but it came out a mere squeak.

Eloquim sighed heavily. His breath stirred the air. "Very well," he sighed. He waved his hand in a bored gesture. The Overlord made a satisfied cackle to the sight of, when Lloyd looked up, Darreth being punched in the face, not by the knife, but by an invisible fist. It pounded into his stomach, his face, his nose. The brown ninja gave sounds of distress, claiming unfairness with a choked, dry voice to the fact that his opponent was not something manmade, but actually someone. "I can feel the fingers!" He cried, disgusted, waving his arms as he got socked in the stomach. "That's…grody." He wheezed. "_Really _grody."

Lloyd shook his head in disbelief. Could this really continue on into death? Would Eloquim keep beating him, keep stabbing Jay, until they were literally dead? Would he make that Lloyd's motivation?

It was hard to tell so early atop their stage with their fatal, agonistic dance with death was viewed live for the feeble public to observe. "_Stop," _he moaned. Darreth's cries could be heard inside of his mind, too, chokes and gasps of pain at the fists of fury attacking him. "_Don't." _

"Do you think Daddy wants a taste, too?" Eloquim tapped his foot. Lloyd could barely force out a _"Dad!" _before Garmadon's hands flew to his throat, legs flailing like that of a crash dummy. His eyes practically bulged from their sockets aboard his head. His face started to turn all the colors of the rainbow as the same invisible hands that continued to beat up Darreth now took vengeance on him, throttling him with their own, squeezing the life out of him using their supernaturally charged forces. "Dad!" Tears cracked down his cheeks. "No, Dad! Please!" Lloyd rocketed to his feet, something he probably should've thought about before he did, for his legs almost gave way the second the palms of his boots pressed to the cold marble floor. Desperate, his heart thundered, making his veins pound from beneath his skin. His wrists flared pain again, though he persevered, struggling through it best he could. "Stop! Dad!"

There was a pounding amid the door at that particular moment. Screams of those outside wanting to be let in. They did not sound begging, however, they sounded like they were in pain, as though they were tortured to be standing outside like this. Lloyd whirled to see. Millions of combined voices, not just one or two or a petty three, flickered against that door. Literally _millions _of echoey screams outside that door. Shivers traveled up the length of his body.

"Oh, ignore the obnoxious fiends," growled Eloquim. "It's those rowdy souls dying to get in. This is their place of worship, you know. But they can't climb past the magic wards I have dispatched upon this cavern. They can't slip past my witchcraft. Just as well," the Shadow Dancer added, "they are the bars that keep your friends at bay. Perhaps I should've mentioned that, but they are quite dastardly dead things when they get angry. Only the invited ever truly make it out of this cemetery alive. They're very territorial. Shame, too. I liked your mum. A true fighter. Oh, well…I'm sure the _Maolo _could use another philosopher to add to their army of the dead."

Lloyd's fists clenched. He fought to see Eloquim through the cataracts of tears in his eyes. He refused to believe that his mother would just let herself die by a dead person's hands. She was on the _Bounty 2 _safely, unharmed, proving this monster wrong by the second. Garmadon writhed above him. "_Quit this," _Lloyd said lowly. "I won't have it. Stop hurting my friends."

Jay sputtered blood to the floor again. "Nope—_Lloyd—_forget—us—_run!_—say—_no…" _Jay's cries in his head forced Lloyd to wince in his mask of malice he used on Eloquim. The creature saw through him immediately.

"Oh, your Eye," he said softly, challengingly. "It is playing demon now, isn't it? It's letting you hear the unheard cries. Oh, you poor thing, if you survive any of this that'll drive you mad."

Cole stepped up. "Leave him the _hell _alone, bastard! And get your filthy magic off our friends!" The vampire's hands clenched, something the old Cole did constantly when he was angry, daring to punch something out of the dominant emotions inside of him. Lloyd took in a shaky breath, trying to hear over the cries in his mind. _Dad…_he thought, _Dad please…_

"Oh, you rampant vampire," snarled Eloquim. "My filthy magic will cease the second he agrees to read my map!"

"He'll _never _read your map," Cole growled back. Lloyd wished he hadn't butted in, had kept his mouth shut, because that was a choice that Lloyd didn't even know he considered anymore.

Eloquim sighed. "Oh, shut up. You annoy me. Naoki, son?"

Cole didn't have time to return from his crouch nor turn, for the tall, dark haired boy was on him. Cole couldn't fight back when a handful of white ash flew from the gloved palm of Naoki's hand, cascading to Cole's face, earning a shriek out of him. Cole doubled over with his hands on his face. He sounded to a mixture of anger and pain, two things that Lloyd was sure he drew high on throughout his lifetime. He could do nothing but watch as Cole massaged his face with equal noises of angst, muffled through the spring of his canines through his lip. It drew a sheer cold through Lloyd like someone drug rope through a puddle. It stirred his inner sense of normality.

"Ugh!" Cole growled. "My—face—_where did you get that?!" _

Eloquim remained impassive. "It's White Oak Ash," explained the shadow-induced individual boredly. "It comes from the Sacred Tree in which we burned. Hurts, doesn't it? They say in the time of its reign, the tree was much loved by witches. They cared for that tree as though it were one of their own! Apparently it was a much loved tree, very powerful, and plenty of evil beasts wanted its treasurous abilities for their own. And to stop those villainous commoners and rich folk from _all _over the world from cutting it down they laced it with a spell that allowed the tree to harm any supernaturally bound creature from touching it with a burning sensation. After the witches died, it only made this spell stronger. Hurts more now than it would've if you poked it all those years ago." Eloquim grinned. "Particularly the race of the vampires. Power-seeking little demons."

"You're one to talk," Caroline spat, speaking for the first time since her cry of torture at the sound of death of her brother.

"Yes, yes," he waved his hand dismissively. "Now, Lloyd, read my map."

"No," Cole said like he'd been asked. Lloyd glanced at him, now standing, recovering. His eyes ran their silvery vampiric tones, skin dwelling on snow, lips forging on blood. He snarled.

"Oh, shut up. Did I not say you were annoying?" Eloquim waved his hand. "Be gone with you."

"Cole!" Lloyd found it wasn't him shouting, but Jay; he couldn't tear way his eyes when the earth ninja's reflexes failed him just that one crucial time. The slow motion removal of Naoki's stake from his belt was seen by Cole himself, but there wasn't enough time to react, on his counterpart. Lloyd gave a shriveled cry that didn't help in manors but allowed itself to be heard. Cole's hands came up to defend himself, but this Naoki expected. He maneuvered the white stake through the air around his hands. With a battle cry the man did his work under the compulsion of the Shadow Dancer's reign with no mercy for innocence, nor the good in the world, nor the bad. There was a tight squishy sound, like you would hear if you were to squeeze the putrid excess water from a cool rag, letting go of what wasn't needed. Lloyd's hearing picked up on every noise after that. He screamed, but he couldn't hear himself.

Cole stared at the stake in his chest, unsure of what to do. His skin started to gray, thinning as the veins in his face were visible, though not through color, but a darkened, almost black shade of death. His silver eyes dulled. He looked at Lloyd one last time. Blinked.

And then he collapsed to the floor, never to awaken again.

"_COOOOLLLLLLEEEEE!" _Lloyd shrieked, dropping to the floor beside him. The vampire's skin felt papery and thin, able to chip off if peeled correctly. His heart sank, numb, as he could feel that hole in his chest again about to bleed out the rest of its sorrows. _No, _he thought. _No, he can't be dead; he can't be! _Lloyd gently tapped Cole's hollow cheek. He needed water. He needed something to pour on him to wake him up; this was no time to be sleeping! He gently shook his friend's shoulders. It wasn't nap time. Really, how silly did he have to be to think it was okay to fall asleep right now?

"Cole, get up!" He begged. He cradled his head to his chest. "Get up!" He reached in to grab ahold of the stake's white, smooth hilt. It took a lot of strength to wrench it from the release of Cole's hollow chest. Blood stained the tip after the sucking sound it came with at the exhale of its emancipation from the tomb of Cole's heart. He tossed it aside with the bone-chilling clatter distances away. Caroline pressed her fingertips to the ninja's throat, dealing for a pulse, as she herself attempted to understand this series of unfortunate events. Lloyd stroked Cole's hair, quietly pouring tears onto his face. He whispered away to himself in comfort, language Cole would surely understand, coming from a birth mother of Chinese. "_N__ǐ__ h__á__i m__é__i s__ǐ," _he whispered. _You're not dead, _he repeated in his own language inside his mind. _You're not dead. _

"Oh, Cole," Caroline gasped, withdrawing her hand. "Oh, _Cole…" _

And she fell to sobs against his unrising chest.

"_NOOO!" _The scream from above was loud, high pitched with anger. Lloyd forced himself to turn and look into the sky. Seiko wrestled with her supernatural binds. _"NO! __W__ǒ__ de xi__ō__ngdì, w__ǒ__ de xi__ō__ngdì!" _She cried helplessly. Lloyd's face dropped. Cole was her _brother? _"Let me _down so I can rip you to pieces!" _she screamed. "PUT ME DOWN!"

Eloquim ignored her, turning to Lloyd. He focused on the brokenheartedness pleading across his face in empty expression. Lloyd knew there was nothing showing on his face but the emptiness he feared he'd become. Elathan had needed a transition to turn to something else, but in the process, he'd also been morphing Lloyd into something completely different than the happy-go-lucky, much-to-live for boy he'd been, first arriving aboard the _Bounty _with his carpetbag in hand and dread boiling in his stomach, along with the excess blood of his spider-induced syndrome. Then, Lloyd had had so much riveting emotion about him, but now, with Cole's death, he realized he didn't _want _to feel anymore. What good was feeling if all it brought you was horrendous pains, suffering, twisted curves in the channels of life that yet had to bring him peace? As the Eye pulsed on the back of his hand, Lloyd felt his body go numb, felt the hole in his chest deepen, even as he kissed Cole's forehead a goodbye. Death was something he'd seen too much over these days, something he'd experienced far too many times. His wrists seared him a terrible pain. His mind soared above where he actually sat. He was…disembodied.

There is a place, within each of us. It is a place concealed by the darkest pits of our mind, a place only we can access ourselves. It opens itself up to us amid tragedy and vain, windows swinging wide for our souls to clamber through in need of an escape of humanity. Some, in life, spare plenty of their grievous moments buried inside its dark tumors, its wretched glazed walls fixed with barely a brim of candlelight to shed for sight. Some never find the nirvana, the peace offered to them by the brinkish fold of life's rays. Some instead stick to what is referred to as The Cave and its lowly, cracked notes of imperfection and inner hate. This is the place Lloyd succumbed to now, the place he slithered into when its gates finally opened in quiet offering. He didn't fight the limelight it shed onto him, sucking him away into its unloving chill, wrapping him in its tendrils of inhumanity. There, he found himself a switch, within arm's reach of his fingertips. This is what is often referred to, by the Past, Present, and sometimes the Future, as the Humanity Switch. It is a gruesome choice that humans have inside of themselves with a privilege they should not be given, yet somehow are by the gods who created the humanly beasts. The Humanity Switch can be flipped at any time. It allows us to shut away our emotions, allows us to brick a wall before their flooding misleads to stop ourselves from feeling these terrible things anymore. Once the Humanity Switch is flipped, it can no longer be turned back on; it stops one from feeling _any _emotion ever again, and to that sense, it means _any. _There is no emotion after. No love, no anger, no rage, no hate, no pain nor any other reprimadable thing we as humans feel. They are gifts, and they are curses. Not many people are able to find it, like the Cave where it lies, hidden. But Lloyd found it that day.

And he turned it off.

**JAY**

His face turned impassive. Blank. Hell, he almost looked like Zane, nothing shown to his visage. "No dawn, no death. Always in the twilight," Kai used to say when they'd all stare at their nindroid brother's eyes and see nothing but their own reflection. That was okay with Zane, though, because there wasn't anything he could do about it; like, what could they have done, flipped a switch and make him feel? Jay had been just fine with Zane's face being that way.

But Lloyd's? It was a crime.

The bubbly, burstive young boy was now nothing. The look of a dead man haunted his crystalline eyes. His shoulders hung with a woeful defeat that meant he'd _given up. _Ninja weren't supposed to stop, weren't supposed to just _give up—_but Lloyd _had_. Jay made a muffled noise at the dig of the knife deeper into his belly. He clutched at the hilt, knowing the sick bastard below prodding along the floor was somehow sustaining him, making him stay alive longer than he really would've liked to. Jay was bewildered, unsure of what he himself was supposed to feel at the sight of Cole's dead body. Joy? Sorrow? What could he do now?

"Read. My. Map," Eloquim said loudly to Lloyd. Fear travelled through Jay's heart. He made to gasp a warning to Lloyd, make him remember that the lives of the four hanging up here weren't worth the lives of the world, yet he couldn't even make so much as another squeak. His voice was gone, something he wouldn't take very lightly, not even over the sobbing of the pretty young girl beside him, or the choking noises of Garmadon, or the constant slap of skin punching skin from Darreth.

Lloyd looked up at them blankly. Jay met his eyes, giving him a curt, quick shake of the head. _Don't do it, kid, _he thought, trying to make Lloyd hear him, though that was nearly impossible. Lloyd's eyes skimmed over them all with not even anything as close to a _flicker _of emotion. He looked _dead. _

His gaze returned to Eloquim. Jay held his breath.

"Okay. I will read your map."

_No! _Jay tried to scream as Lloyd got to his feet, dismay startling his thoughts. Against the door screamed the millions of souls dying to get in. Their haunted cries wrapped shivers of death around him, but Jay refused to let himself die. Not after losing everyone would he just go _kaput _so easy. He struggled to pull the knife from his stomach with the jagged, hard edge of its blade. It hurt so badly. This was going to take a _lot _of medical skill to repair.

Eloquim smiled, satisfied, as he handed Lloyd the map. The younger boy took it in his palms, running his thumbs gently across the paper, face still refusing to show anything. Jay shook his head. _What are you doing?! _He thought incredulously. _Don't, Lloyd! You whack-job! Don't do it! Oh, man, we are so hooped… _

Then he corrected himself. There _was _no "we."

**THE PRESENT**

"Oh, screw _this!" _Kai yelled. He pressed hard against the wall blocking him from going inside while the other mindless ghosts just clawed at it and slithered like the idiots they were. He was angry, he was frustrated, he was _pissed off. _He could hear nothing from inside the Temple, an omen of raw badness. He knew inside he _needed _to get to Lloyd. He _needed _to. But this _dumb freaking door…_

"Zane!" Kai yelled. The white form of his friend materialized beside him, giving him a solemn blink. "Freeze this door so I can kick the hell out of it so it will shatter or something! Seriously! Make _me _do all the work…"

"I don't have powers," Zane tapped on the door. Like _knocking _was going to help. "Patience, Kai."

"Patience for _what? _My little brother to die?" Kai kicked the door again. "Zane, this isn't right. It isn't—"

"Even if we could get in," reasoned the robotic voice of Zane quietly, surely, "we could not alter the future like so."

"We _could. _Zane, we're here to help turn _around _their future by using the gimmicks of past and present, not sit around and let them do whatever the hell they feel like. Just…_help me." _Kai shoved against the door without waiting for an answer. He pressed with all his might. "The Temple of Forgotten Warriors is being wrongfully inhabited. If we don't get in there and save what's left of it, these guys are going to be way angrier than _I _am. Plus, our friends are in there. Come _on, _Zane."

Zane sighed. "Kai, it is not _right _for us to—"

"UGH!" Angry, Kai stepped back from the door. He didn't want to listen to what he could and couldn't do. "This is absolutely _stupid. _You know what? Screw the Elemental Leaders. I'm _saving Lloyd." _

His hands burst into flames. Then, with a howl of anger, he attacked the door—and won.

**LLOYD**

The hieroglyphics made sense to him. They were words scrawled across the page in blood rather than the pictures they would've been if he were perhaps younger and unable to quite wrap his head around their full meanings. He ran his fingertips across them. It was…a _rhyme. _Like a children's rhyme found in the tales their mother sang to them before bed. His lips parted over the pleads of Caroline for him to stop, for him to _"Come back to us!" _Lloyd ignored all outerwordly voices to repeat what was written to the page in a solemn, monotonic voice. _"Many a room is bestowed," _he whispered…

"_Though strange fate could never behold_

_Daring of what power lies beneath_

_One chance you get, one chance you seek_

_Make a wrong turn and the tomb will collapse_

_Your corpse will lie in reminder of thunder what claps_

_Pick the wrong tomb and your demise you will meet_

_Pick the right tomb and the world you'll defeat_

_The Key lies in gold wrapped in satin_

_Whisper the words of the ancient Latin_

_Out you will walk to the light of day_

_Or if not it is in death will hell give you pay."_

"YES! _YES! YEESSS! The Key will be mine!" _Eloquim shouted triumphantly once Lloyd dropped the paper from his fingertips, collapsing in a heap to the floor where he lay cold and unmoving. His heart beat beneath his chest yet his Eye burned over his skin. It was telling him something again in a strange format he could not understand. It was…_warning _him, that much he felt. But warning him…of what?

He had no chance to think. The door of the Temple burst into flames.

**KAI**

The first thing Kai saw wasn't the bodies hanging from the ceiling, or the dead ones strewn across the floor, or the crumpled form of Lloyd. No, he saw all those things an instant later after he stepped through the wall of flames he'd created. The first thing he saw was Cole.

"What the _hell _is going on?!" Cole shouted, running around, using his hands to swipe through the heads of anyone standing there. "Oh, my Lord, this is bad, this is _really really _bad!" He didn't trip over the bodies he ran through, plowing right through them with hollow ankles. He kicked at them without hitting them. It took Kai a really long time to quite grasp what happened.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" He asked, just because he could, not because he figured he'd get an answer. Cole's head snapped up to face him with wide grey eyes. It shocked Kai that he even met his gaze. That meant…Cole could _see _him?

"Kai? Oh, Kai, is that _really you?" _

"Uh, sure?"

"ZANE!" Cole waved his arms. Kai turned to see the former Ice Ninja stepping over the bodies like he couldn't just walk through them. _Courteous_, Kai thought, with a brief, almost nonexistent smile. "Oh, Zane. Oh, you guys, this is freaking _terrible." _

"What is?" Kai asked.

"It's Lloyd!" Cole gasped. "And—and me, I guess. I mean—dude just staked me, and now I'm…But Lloyd, he, he—"

Kai grabbed his arms. "He _what?" _That was when he noticed everyone else. Dread slithered through him. _Oh, no…_ Beside him, Zane sucked in a sharp breath. Oh, no, indeed.

Lloyd had read the map. And now, as Eloquim screamed with joy like a power-crazy child, clutching the map to him, there was going to be terrible things becoming of them. The four hostages dangling from the ceiling began to fall as the supernatural force keeping them up released them. Each screamed. "You _fool! _You will all _perish _in the hellion I'll release onto you!" screamed Eloquim. Kai's fists clenched. "The Key will be _mine!" _

With a loud laugh, the beast disappeared into an explosion of black dust, taking the Overlord with him. Kai rushed towards the falling bodies, just as Caroline and Lloyd figured they'd do. Zane was close on his heels.

"Jay!" Kai gasped, holding out his arms. He didn't know why he thought he could catch him. His boots slid across the marble flooring, skidding to a stop just below the falling form of the lightning ninja. Jay screamed, prepared to hit the ground—

Bewildered, Kai's hands closed tightly around Jay. His body dipped at the impact but remained on steady feet. The poor, freaked out ninja looked around wildly for a second before his eyes, too, rested on Kai. For a moment he was horrified. Did that mean Jay was dead too?

"Kai?"

"Jay."

"Oh, my—_Zane!" _

Caroline's head snapped around as Zane landed neatly with Garmadon. He straightened, eyebrows raised. He, too, was puzzled. How could Jay see him?

"Zane!" Caroline, too, saw him, putting down Darreth. So it meant death hadn't taken them, after all, but some freakish entity allowing them to be seen must've been present. The brown ninja looked like crap, Kai noticed as he let down Jay, whose arms wasted no time wrapping around him. _"Kai," _whispered the light voice of his best friend in his ear. Kai hugged him back. "You…you _came." _

"I… yes?"

"I thought of you. And you _came." _

Kai didn't think that was at all a factor at peace, but decided to let it go.

Cole poised his hands on his hips. "Okay, this _sucks. _I'm over here all by myself." Kai laughed, despite it. Jay leaned back, eyebrows furrowed.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothin'," he winked at Cole. Cole fumed.

"Lloyd?" Zane glanced around. Kai snapped back to reality.

"Where's…where's Lloyd?"

"Lloyd!"

"SEIKO?" Cole waved his arms. "Where'd they go? Oh, man, where…"

Tensions grew high as they looked for the missing Spinjitzu master and Cole's younger sister. Kai looked for the golden boy, searching for him in the air and throughout the scatter of bodies for him desperately, wildly. His heart would've pounded if it needed to racing around, looking for him, calling for him. Did he really lose Lloyd? His heart pounded in his chest as everyone screamed negatives on the inability to locate them in the Temple.

They were _gone. _


	25. Chapter 24: THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

**I didn't tell you guys this in the previous chapter (!) which I should have, but I forgot. You guys, this is the SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER OF THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT! After this chapter, **_**chapter 24, **_**book two of the Nightmares for a Ninja series will end and the third will begin, the third being one I still have to remake a title for, since the previous title has gotten bumped up to the fourth book. But ohmyglob you guys! It's ending! AHHHH! . I'll bet you're super curious as to what's happening with the ninja today, and I'll try to have the last chapter of TAOT out tonight before I hit the hay, so enjoy what there is of T.A.O.T's second-to-last-chapter!**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

24. _The Autumn of Twilight_

"WE'LL NEVER MAKE IT!" SHOUTED NYA, maneuvering her way gently through the gathering, gruesome crowd of fading, cordially dressed warriors, mouths hanging in an aghast gape permitting the drawn moan they gave. In the distance, the _Bounty 2 _sat in conduction waiting for the cavalry to arrive, all ten of them. Rikku could just barely see the forms of the other androids waving their arms like pencils at them. The rotors were ready, the boosters in preparation for their escapade, yet the boat remained grounded with the deck swarming with dark forms. Rikku was met in the face with a hollow, blue tinted woman. Her jowls sagged in a wide _O _in which matched that of her eyes, a widened shape. Loose, ghostly floating hair over her shoulders waved behind her as she clutched for his shirt beseechingly.

"Don't let them suck you dry!" shouted Misako in warning for the twentieth time. She turned away from her own mortal situation consisting of the ragged, tattered form of a long-dead beggar. "If they suck out your soul, you're done for!"

The day had gone cold with the drowning sun. Over the horizon behind the _Maolo _rocks jutting from the sea of blue ghosts, Rikku glimpsed its wondrous descent into the shade of the sand in the distance. He had no time to marvel at its adjacent glow that he hadn't seen for many, many years, overthrowing plenty of decades. Its prosaic, pink rays shot into the sky with every passing second as it crawled into sleep. He vaguely wondered where the day had gone as he batted away another ghost. This time latching onto his wrist, the little girl tugged hard at him. "_Don't go, mister," _she whispered in her tiny voice. _"You wouldn't let a little girl to starve, would you?"_

"'Fraid he would, sir," Tobias pried her cold, bony thin fingers from his wrist. The little girl's hair was pulled from her face by a thick headband, but it did nothing for her when she angried. Her hair stuck into all directions as her face took on a malicious snarl. Her demonic glare enveloped Rikku in un-droid-like shivers. He turned away with the best of his power to follow the group through the masses.

Moving at top speed, he was afraid that even the slowest of tortoises could outrun them. The blue figures acted like opposing forces. Everyone's eyes stayed shut, peering through their slit lids to the ground where they could watch their feet and the ankles of their forthcoming leader. All the humans clung to one another while the androids acted as walls, shoving off the clinging ghosts while they dared suck out what inhabited the hearts of the mortals. Without souls of their own, the robots were safe from being eaten by these ravaged savages, but there was no telling how far these tormented creatures would go to get what they could salvage from the flock. If Rikku could bleed he'd be scratched into one large, walking wound, but their oddly-real fingernails only left small dents into his false skin.

He swatted aside a gangly girl trying to clutch Nya. They were all trying to get a taste of her soul. Nya whimpered curiously while Rikku comforted her with as much a gentle hand as he could place to her shoulder. "It is your child," he said simply. "They can taste it."

Nya looked ill. She clutched her stomach with a spider hand formation.

"Not too far now!" called Julien from the head of the group beside Ming Lao, who shoved aside an obstinate old man. "Just a few paces and we'll meet the rope!"

This was true—there were only a few more feet to meet. Ming was just helping Julien to the rope's base when there was the terrible whooshing sound of what could be ingeniously related to as the flutter of a cape's tail. Tobias and Rikku turned simultaneously to see the thick black coils of thick smoke rising from the quickly-catching Temple. If his emotions weren't so screwed up, Rikku would've been mortified.

Everyone else, it seemed, despite his loss, was. Nya whirled to stare as the flames reflected off of her hazel irises. "No," she breathed. _"No! Cole!" _She started to run, but before either Rikku or Tobias could reach for her, a blue demon had. It grabbed her shoulders and stared into her face with false innocence designed to lure in prey.

"_Please, miss," _whispered the little boy without his lips moving. _"I'm starving." _

Tobias punched him in the face. Nya stared in shock as he wiped away his brown knuckle like the boy's "skin" left residue of his assault. "Ain't no little boy playin' cannibals in my house tonight."

Misako reached out. _"Lloyd!" _she shrieked. _"Lloyd!" _

"Oh, _no," _whispered the older couple, holding onto each other's hands while the inferno grew, travelling across the ceiling and through the sides. Misako tried to wrestle her way through the crowd of mortals, but Julien had her by the waist, pulling her back as she shrieked in horror. Rikku, though lost of his most prized possessions—his emotions, left with bleak, artificial replacements—could feel his heart recoil at the sight of her. Julien tried to pull her away from another screaming, desperate soul. Ripsaw, the toughest that was Awakened that day (who was also emotionally ready for war) took the butt of his handgun to the top of the soul's head. Surprisingly corporeal, it ducked under the impact with an infertile collapse to the ground.

"Damn dead people," snarled Ripsaw's accent. He sounded as though he came from far, far of where Ninjago rested. "Can't you just be dead, and let your metabolisms die too? Eh, mate?" He asked an oncoming woman. He shoved her aside. Then, he glanced at Rikku. But without waiting for an answer, he kicked aside another restless ghost, his attention quickly caught and easily divided. Rikku swatted aside more deadly beasts as he called,

"We have to move, now! Or surely they'll consume you!"

Ming grabbed Misako from Julien's offering hands. She struggled to remove herself from this painful situation, but Ming, however dainty, held the upper hand. She latched her onto the rope with the connect of a special belt to the metal swing that would lift her with the strength of the robots above, who Rikku knew as Sue and Lance Jablonski. Misako flew up crying the whole way. He knew it was wrong to mourn—as he'd been raised so as a child, one didn't dwell on such negative feelings—but still found himself turning his head to look to the fatal flames. Caroline was in there.

He had always known it was wrong to love your brother's lover, yet it was difficult not to develop an exclusive affection for one with so much life as Caroline accepted. Who wouldn't find himself falling for those exquisite curls, those ecstatic compliments and joyous tunes? Over the years in The Box, Rikku's feelings had faded, but he still found himself catching a recollection of old emotions in a window of pain at what used to be. He didn't feel much anymore. That part of his system had slowly worn out with unuse, though if anything he still knew what the ghost of their tangy tastes could feel like, every so often catching the sweet aroma of their pungent personas and wishing there was an update to his old, fractured equipment.

Parting with her at an eternal rest would say murder to his "heart." He sighed sorrowfully. _Farewell, sister, _he whispered to her in his mind. _Farewell. _

The man with the moustache was being risen to the main deck now; Julien and the couple had boarded over the course of his distant thoughts. Tobias too watched the flames. They shared a sickly melancholy. "We only jus' met 'er again," murmured the dark lips. In agreement, Rikku nodded slowly. He punched a woman reaching for Nya's stomach. As the rope lowered once more, he lifted her, unfazed by her struggle as she sobbed against his shoulder, reaching for the Temple that had quickly transformed into a tomb.

"_Cole!" _she cried, and with that repeated his name as she floated all the way up. Rikku's shoulders felt heavy with equipment tirement as Tobias hauled himself up the steep slope of the _Bounty 2's _side. A grim darkness had fallen to the land as the sun continued downwards, only a sliver of its face left to peer at. Ripsaw smacked yet another soul with his gun.

"Be gone wi' you!" he howled. "You's is so obnoxious I believe even _butterflies _are more tolerable! Ya can't eat me, you insufferable bloke! Back away or you'll get a taste of me shooter again!" The time toughened robot hooked himself onto the latch as he raised himself aboard after Ming, using his one hand to clutch at the weary rope. He pointed his gun to the dwellers of blue below. "Ha ha, you infernal creatures! See where this leaves ya now? Abhorrent cannibals, run back to yer mums!" he muttered. He helped himself over the side.

The rope began to lower again, only this time, Rikku paused. At the sound of the off-white grunting he turned his face. In the dim witchlight of the sun's final glows and the moon's illumination, the blue cemetery folk parted under the detached, controversial light of the color orange, casting a circular refuge in the distance. Rikku watched with a particular interest. It wasn't just a ball of light the size of a human, it was a protective shield, expanding about ten feet to its center. He held onto the rope in case of a speedy escape while it rushed towards them, sending the ghosts reeling back with painful shrieks. They didn't like the sudden light, for these creatures only appeared when the sun disappeared. They shriveled against the black barred gates and headstones to avoid being touched by the brilliant glow.

Rikku could not sense a threat, yet kept his guard. He poised his hand to his gun as the roaming circle approached. He then was able to make out the rough shape of a _form, _hidden inside. No, not just one; there were eight hiding in the cocoon of power. Rikku's eyebrows raised interestedly.

"You!" said a voice from the other side. "Help them up! But hurry, I can't keep this going forever…"

The circle shriveled away to rough outline the forms better. Rikku's heart would've leaped—if he had one, that is—at the sight of Caroline and the others—but what she held in her hands was something terrible he gasped to see.

Cole. Limp. Unmoving.

"Take him first!" She commanded, passing the dead body to Rikku. He saw the shape of a hole out the bloody tangle of Cole's uniform. He had no time to marvel at their miraculous escape; with the leaping Ming's help (as she jumped from the deck,) they were able to lace his body to the rope. Ming rode up with him.

Rikku saw Nya's head over the side. She was watching. And oh…he could feel her pain through her mortified sobs, her strangled noises, her fitful cries. He tuned out the horrific sound from his selective hearing and turned to the face of the pointy haired boy they'd confronted in the Temple during its last moments. In his free hand, he held a thick stalk of fire to turn away any rebellious ghosts. Reflexively, he had his gun cocked and finger on the trigger the instant Caroline saw it coming, placing herself between them. Rikku froze with the fear of hitting her instead.

"No," she said, "this isn't the same guy. No questions! We have to get Jay up next; he's badly hurt." Rikku's eyes slid to the ragged blue form the red-suit-clad good/evil ninja supported with the traditional arm-over-the shoulder maneuver. Sweat matted Jay's red hair to his forehead, slicking his skin to a shiny quality. Through the stomach of his lightning-induced ninja suit, there was a slit, and plenty, plenty blood. It stained the frontal half of his middle waist downwards onto his pants. Rikku was glad he didn't quease anymore. He shifted, with the assistance of the red ninja, Jay to the descending-again Ming's grasp. She held tight to boy as his eyelids fluttered under his barely unconscious haze. "Take him quickly to the infirmary," Rikku ordered, "with the other boy, Cole. You hear me?"

Ming nodded once. "Sir, yes, sir."

She climbed the heaved rope with the wounded.

An old man, who Caroline also suggested meet the infirmary, was next to be helped up with Ripsaw, who helped himself down the rope. He held out his arms. "C'mon, Pops," he said, demanding yet strangely friendly, "I know I don't look as promising as the previous beaut, but you bear with me here, mate; she's tending to them others. Hold onto me. If you don't, there's a great chance you'll turn into Humpty Dumpty today. That's it, up we go…" Sue and Lance marvelously hauled them upwards, even under what strain it must be to pull them up. Rikku made note to thank them later as a beaten-broadly brown-clothed boy waddled up. He smiled with the able half of his mouth, saluting with a bloody hand; the right side of his face—Rikku's left—was purple, blue, and stained. His cheeks swelled half the size of four fists stacked together. His eye didn't even have the strength to open.

He mumbled something that sounded like, "I Darreth you to lift me up next!"

Ripsaw's lip curled at the looks of him. "Oy, you've been through some trouble, mate," he commented, grabbing onto the brown man's arm. The brown man smiled with what he could.

"Oh yeah? You should see the other guy," he boasted. It earned a hearty laugh from Ripsaw (which, you'll find, can be quite hard to come by. Ripsaw doesn't usually laugh at jokes that weren't his.) Rikku turned to the remainders. It was only Caroline, the pointy haired boy, and—and…_Zane. _

"Brother!" he gasped at the sight of him, unable to help himself. Zane—dressed in clothes he never even would've imagined could've existed back when Rikku had last seen daylight, before he was Boxed. He looked comfortable in what he recognized as _jeans _and a thick white sweatshirt. He laughed at the look of him. "It's…beautiful to see you again," he said quietly.

Zane blinked, similar, _true _emotion on his face. "I say the same of you," he said. Blood rushed to his cheeks, turning him pink. Rikku gaped. That wasn't supposed to happen, for he had no blood. How was it possible?

"Brother, you blush!"

"I know," Zane quietly said. He shook out his hair. "I am human."

"What?" Rikku couldn't hide his shock. "How can this be?"

"Death restores you," Zane said quietly. Though Rikku froze, Zane stroked his brother's arm. "There is no time to linger any longer; we have already done what we can. Though we walk in the land of the eternal, these who are dead around us"—he motioned to the surrounding blue ghosts—"and are permitted a visible form as they are, we can't leave with our forms, or we will turn to ash. We can only travel by Past and Present," he murmured, though speaking loudly for Caroline and the pointy-haired devil to hear. "I fear the Leaders will be upset with us."

"Of course they will," snapped the other boy. He shook his head. "They're strangling sons of the Overlord if I've ever met any. We lost the Green Ninja, the only one who can stop this. I don't think they'll be very happy."

"What?" Caroline glanced between them, though Rikku sensed she knew as well as the others that they had lost the Green Ninja, something that made Rikku step back as though he were slapped. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We watch over you," explained Zane softly. "Though we cannot interfere unless it is through the art of stealth and invisibility. We appeared in the Temple because it is sacred for the dead. Or…was." He looked to the inferno briefly. "It was Kai's fault, you see. I insisted we leave you be…"

"Oh, for the love of—!_" _Kai waved his hand irritably. Rikku studied the impatient movement. "Throw me under the bus, why don't you, Zane."

Zane looked confused. "I see no bus."

Kai rolled his eyes. From above them, Rikku heard the calls of his fellow shipmates. He turned to them. "We have to go!" shouted Ming, cupping her hands around her mouth. "_Now!" _

Rikku turned to Zane, stroking his younger brother's face. "You really cannot travel with us?"

Zane shook his head. "I'm afraid not, brother." He sighed. "But we will be with you. Even when you cannot see us."

Impatiently, Ming called, this time her voice accompanied by Ripsaw's booming comments Rikku dared ignore. He looked to Caroline. He prepared to repeat the basic message of what was being thrown at them loudly from above, yet she'd already catapulted herself into Zane's arms, giving him a kiss that made Kai seem dreadfully uncomfortable. He twirled the loud string of fire in his fingers. "I'm going to find Lloyd," he announced of his plans as Caroline sucked herself away from Zane with the sweet _click _of their disconnecting kiss. "No matter what. Wherever he and Seiko have gone…it can't be too good. People don't just disappear."

Zane nodded. "We will be absent from your journeys as we strive to retrieve them," he said to Caroline and Rikku. Worriedly, Caroline slipped her hand around Rikku's bicep, clutching at him. He remembered this as a sign of distress from her human-like habits. "I have no clue where they have gone. Yet we _do _have a warning for you."

As though Kai could read Zane's mind, he turned with a raised eyebrow to his friend. Though wary of him, Rikku sensed that he was much more subtle, less than the evil he'd witnessed in the Temple. "I thought that we weren't supposed to alter the Future's knowledge with ours. I thought they were our strict _rules _not to tell them about anything."

Zane rolled his eyes now. Rikku was abashed by the sight. He'd never seen his brother do that after his Transformation into a droid. It was so human, he could've cried. "You ruined it for all of us," Zane said. "I'm breaking all the rules now, anyway. What's the difference of one measly little heads-up to what _you _did?"

Despite himself, Kai chuckled. Zane went on as though there was no initial interruption to his speech. His face grew serious. "The Autumn of Twilight is coming very, very quickly now; you must act as though you walk on eggshells. It is a _timeline_. You hear me? I can't reveal to you what exactly it is for I do not know myself, but it is one of the most awful things you will undergo, if the Leaders are correct. I don't know what shape or form it will take, but once it arrives…You must be on guard."

"Got it," Caroline squeaked.

"Also!" Kai interjected, holding out a gloved palm. It was empty, but Rikku could feel knowledge bursting out the leathery skin of his hand. "Tonight, there may have been an epic postponement to the Murder of One, but it _will _come. Keep Misako as _safe _as you can. Eloquim will be after her, but for all the wrong reasons; you have to keep her under the best protection you can offer. In fact, keep _everyone _safe. Because there will be a Final Sacrifice."

"A…Final Sacrifice?" repeated Caroline dubiously. "What's that?"

Kai's eyebrow raised. "You don't think we died without reason, do you?"

His words slapped impact on Caroline, a fretting Rikku didn't understand for his lack of understanding of the whole situation in the first place. The sentence he uttered gave great way to her, making her understand, breathe harder. Wheels turned inside of her—most literally. It must've been something unconsidered for the time being. Rikku held to her tightly as she did him. Zane recaptured their fragmented attention.

"You must look for the Blind One," he said. "The Blind One will help you."

Caroline nodded, but Rikku could tell she didn't understand. He committed these terms to memory, accompanied by this entire conversation.

"And—the memory chip!" Kai rushed his words as the others above shouted more insistently. "Just get it and stick it in that computer doo-dad or whatever and see what Zane has there."

"There is more than meets the eye," agreed Rikku's brother. "Remember that."

And so Rikku did.

He shoved Caroline onto the rope, even as she called her goodbyes. He turned to his brother and waved a final farewell with what of his hand he could manage. There was a solemn response from his brother, whose face he'd missed so much yet had to lose again. Rikku grabbed ahold of the rope again. He didn't want to part with him, yet left Kai and Zane standing there; hauling himself over the side, he turned to look at them one last, relishing time, but found that they were gone. They'd disappeared into the very likes of the wind, turning into the air itself. No, they'd turned into time.

He dusted away his pressed pants as Ripsaw clapped him on the shoulder. "Who were you talking to?" He asked. "It looked like you and Care were having a plentiful chat with the air."

Surprised, Rikku turned to him. "You didn't see them?" He asked.

"See who?" Ripsaw rubbed the diagonal scar over his eye and nose, pink with lacing by needle and thread rather than the heat it properly had needed when the injury first occurred decades ago.

Rikku decided to let it go. He took it upon himself to sigh, take off after Ming and Caroline as they rushed to the steering wheel of the _Bounty 2 _with a slow, steady pace. "No one," Rikku responded softly. Leaving Ripsaw in his wake, he rubbed his neck beneath the mat of his wavy brown hair. "No one at all."

**NYA**

"You did something with it," she argued in a slight mumble, digging through the pockets of Cole's pants with shaky hands. Her heart pounded heavily in refusal. The infirmary Caroline had recreated using her technical wit when she'd rebuilt the _Bounty _was much more efficient than the last, with walls full of shelves containing herbs, mixtures, medicines, tools, and whatnot for the injured and sick. The beds, too, seemed to offer more comfort and support. Nya shoved the sweet smell of heavy blood that wafted through her nostrils as she dug through the hamper for Cole's pants. She had to repeat multiple times in her head, _You're better than this. You don't want to drink Jay's blood. You're fine. You're better than this. You can do it. _Though it was difficult to suffer through the overpowering aroma, Nya found herself occupied enough to forge through it. She could hear Jay's pained whimpers from the far bed, the one resting in the gentle crook of the corner's refuge. There, four droids worked their best to stitch his wounds and create some kind of relief to his deep, deep knife cut.

She hated the sound of his whimpers, hated the sounds of his pain. His stifled cries. He was trying so hard to cover them up for the sake of everyone else's ears, but she could hear right through him, a skill she'd developed after getting to know him better. Outside the shut door, Nya could hear Ed and Edna arguing their own battles with whomever was manning the entrance. "That's our _son!" _they protested. "We have a _right _to see him!"

"I can't let you in!" said the young boy's voice once more. Nya vaguely remembered he'd introduced himself as Sylvester-slash-Sylver Whitward. "Just hang out here. It's way too crowded inside."

Really, it wasn't, but keeping them out was definitely for tension purposes. Nya created enough a stressful environment searching for Cole's pants in a desperate heave. She couldn't imagine how tenuous it would be if _Jay's _parents were in here.

She couldn't even dwell on disgrace as she located them, thin, black, design-carved material underneath the heaps of Jay's bloody clothing. She didn't breathe as she yanked them out. She could taste the wave of tainted air rushing towards her face as she did. _I will not drink Jay's blood, _she repeated, and dug through Cole's pockets.

"Once again," argued back her opposer, a young, hip girl Nya would come to like later but for now focused on pants. Her name was Dani Lockwood, daughter of Erin and Frederick Lockwood, distant cousin of the mayor of the former Fireman's Circle, avid reader, and practicing "witch." These details Dani had passed out in hopes to calm Nya had come to mind as she worked on pulling away the slivers of stake residue left from the weapon used to kill Cole. "I don't pick-pocket my patients."

"But it _should _be here," she cried. "Oh, Cole, you idiot, _where is it?!" _

"What are you even _looking _for?" Dani asked. Nya whirled to face her. Golden hair framed the young girl's spunky face, illuminating her plain features. Her cascading halo was just about the only thing that stood out to the tall, thin, stringy girl. Her gentle fingers worked into the hole of Cole's bare chest; Nya wrenched her eyes back to Dani's friendly blue eyes. But however nice she may look, there was a modern-day challenge lingering there, putting off any assumption that Dani could be one of those _old souls _like the majority of these robots.

Nya stuck out her chin. "A vial," she answered stiffly, "of silver liquid. Small. Test-tubey. Ever seen it? Of course you have. You _must _have. It doesn't just _disappear." _

"Look, lady," Dani repeated. There was a squishing noise as she pulled out another sliver. "I've never seen your test tube of silver liquid."

Nya groaned loudly, desperately searching through the hamper towards the bottom, where it could've rolled if it had fallen from his pocket. Finally, with a cry of impatience, she chucked out Jay's shirt completely, sick of having to smell what made her want to suck him dry. He smelled _so good. _She'd always known that about him, but now, with his life force pouring out him by the pint, she felt the desire to feed from him heavier than before.

"WHERE IS IT?!" Nya shrieked. She'd searched through to the very bottom. If Cole had lost it, she was going to be _so pissed. _How could she save him if she didn't have the proper medication to do so?

Nya didn't have to listen hard to hear Jay's soft whispers among his cries of torture. Her skin prickled at the sound of his voice. "Nya," he whispered. She could practically hear him wince at the sound of her name coming from his lips, something he'd once enjoyed now so tediously sickening. She turned but couldn't see him. "Look in my pocket."

Nya wasted no time tearing through to find the blue material. She yanked out his lightning-designed pants and found the pocket stuffed with a familiar small shape. Her heart ran like racehorses as the silver liquid swished to the bottom as she plucked it from his pocket. _Yes, _she thought, excitedly running to the nearest bed where Cole laid. His gray skin was disgusting to the touch, papery and thin, like it was made of tissue paper you stuffed in a bag along with someone's birthday present. It expanded the length of his whole body, down his sculpted chest to the hidden ruins of his lower half beneath the white blanket. Nya tilted upwards his chin. _"Come on, baby," _she whispered, plucking off the tight stopper of the tiny vial and pouring the liquid down his throat. "Come back to me. Come on."

Cole had explained to her that hardly anything could bring a vampire back from double death other than a magic liquid crafted to them by witches. It was one of the rarest substances ever to become on this earth, and by far one of the most powerful; he'd never tell her where or how he got it, but he kept the liquid in its original, thick-glassed vial on the chain around his neck. Whoever had given it to him had been paid extra for the spell of security that kept the glass unbreakable to anything, including brute force. He'd said, "_Just this small amount can save a vampire from anything, as long as you time it right. You have to act fast, catch 'em quickly after they fall. If you take too long, the antidote will fly right through the system and won't work. If it works, you'll see the wounds—which, usually, there's a wound. I mean, wooden stakes and all—start to heal visibly. If not…well. Then I guess you can assume what happens then."_

Nya held hard and fast to his hand, clutching its cool skin between her own as tears drizzled down her cheeks. She kept his fingers to her lips, praying deep within her heart, with every fiber of her being and nerve of her soul. She didn't know what she'd do without him. Nya couldn't _live _without him, that much could be said for this point in time. Living in a world where Cole Mitsuhide didn't exist was just too gruesome, too painful for her to even imagine—Nya knew, with every part of her, that she was in love with him. She wasn't afraid to admit it anymore. Nya was in love with Cole. And no one could ever change that.

She clung to him with some mad hope that this would work. Her eyes remained steeled on the hole in his chest, the hole in which she stopped Dani from working on with her fingers and sharp plying tools with a blocking face of her palm. Dani's hands poised in frozen attack of the emptied hole of blood that didn't drizzle anymore. Nya watched, and waited, and continued to believe this would work, though in her sharp gaze nothing changed except the shifting in the background of her focus of the other nursing girls on Jay's wounds. She stroked the back of Cole's hand admiringly.

"You've always been so strong," she whispered, afraid her voice would give if she said anything any louder. "You've always told me to stand up for what I believe in. Well, Cole, I believe in _you. _I always have." The pool over her eyes overflowed, drizzling down her face and onto his hand at her mouth. "I believe you can do this. Beat the odds. Because I—I love you. I do. Love is belief, and every part of my belief belongs to you. Please, Cole. Don't let it take you away from me. _Please…" _

Dani's hands retreated to her lap. She wiggled on her bedside stool quietly.

Nya focused on the hole, willing it to fix, willing it to heal. But as time went on, it seemed like there was nothing. Minutes passed until finally her strong hope began to fade away, just as the sand did in the palm of your hand on a windy day when you held it up in offering to the gods. There was this emptiness inside of her as she dropped away his hand. Now, her tears became inevitable sobs, shaking her whole body away. Cole was dead. He was _dead. _Hearing it brought her body into a numbness she hated to experience. Her head fell to the bed, where she buried her face in the mattress, burrowing into the white sheets to muffle her cries. Supporting her weight to her knees felt impossible. Oh, Lord, who was she kidding? _Everything _was impossible. Who was she without him? Who _was _she without Cole?

Nya didn't know how to live. Didn't know how to force on a heartbeat. She sobbed into the comforter with the tears of a brokenhearted maiden. Distantly she heart the sympathetic sigh of Dani, whose sympathy she didn't want, nor anyone else's. Nya, without Kai, without Cole, without Zane or hell, even _Jay, _was alone in the world.

A gentle hand stroked the back of her head comfortingly. Dani. She didn't have the strength to swat her away. The mild fingerstrokes against the crown of her skull could've been soothing if she weren't in the middle of dying. As a practicing nurse/ "witch," Dani must've seen these things plenty in her lifetime and extended robotic lifetime. Nya couldn't bear to see that so many times over.

Nor could she bear it now.

Her sobs forced harder. Oh, _Cole…_She wondered if anyone else heard it. The loud sound of her heart, breaking into a million, tiny, irretrievable pieces that would never be able to be put back together.

"There, there," murmured a soft voice. "It's okay. Shh."

"No," Nya protested in sobs. "No it's—"

_Wait. _She froze, feeling her sobs dull as she repeated the voice over and over in her head. Could it—? She slowly raised her head with dull sniffles to blot out her horrendous sobbing when she came face to face with the sight of pale, creamy tan skin in front of her face, unblemished. Unruined.

Whole.

Nya's gaze snapped up to Cole's face, where the dim smile of his pink lips greeted her, eyelids half shut in exhaustion, but his hand remained in a constant stroke against the back of her head even as her jaw dropped, even as she stared like an idiot with snot drizzling down her nose, even as she blinked a million times trying to quite wrap her mind around this. Though slick with sweat, Cole's chest rose and fell, lacking the gaping hole that had once resided there. She reached out to touch him with the thought that maybe it was a dream. Her hands skimmed slowly over his skin, reveling in the fact that she could _feel _the warmth running beneath it. She glanced back to his eyes again. Grey, alive, and welcoming. Cole smiled with the best of his ability, though teeth couldn't be shown under his weakness. He tucked a lock of her too-long brown hair behind her ears as he drug away his gaze to do just that. His thumb gently stroked her cheek. Nya grabbed his hand and held it closer to her skin, closing her eyes, marveling at the warmth of _him. _He was _alive. _

Nya didn't know what to say. It was moments before she could stutter out the brief word, "Hi."

Cole chuckled. She could hear it rumble through his chest. "Hi."

Nya squeezed his hand tightly. Her throat was tight. "You're alive," she said, then wanted to kick herself, feeling like an idiot. Of course he was alive!

"I am, indeed," he said quietly. His eyes flickered south of her eyes for just a moment. Nya blushed. "Thanks to you."

"Not really," she said. Her voice was hoarse. "More thanks to your witch."

Cole smirked. At the look of it, every nerve in her body came alive, electrical ropes stringing throughout the length of her body, electrifying her with a love so deep it burned brighter than any love this world had ever seen. Cole looked down again, and this time didn't even bother looking back up from her lips. "Nah," he murmured. "I like you better."

He pulled her up with the careful tug of his hand, maneuvering her to lean gently over his body, lacing his left leg's ankle around her own, hooking her closer to him. He used only one hand to cup her cheeks, avoiding the pain of moving too much under the soreness, but it was enough. His fingers traveled through her hair, finally crowning her with his hand, before pulling her down to him, catching her mouth with his in mid-gasp. Her small, feeble noise was cut away with the warm, wet seal of his lips, gently urging against hers. Heat spread across Nya's cheeks like wildfire, turning every notch of her body up a level, spinning her mind beyond perfect comprehension. Her thoughts refused to work under the quiet urgency of his kiss. And with her heart pounding furiously beneath her chest, Cole's love pouring through him told her something that day, a response to her awakening begging to his return from the afterlife. It was enough, they decided, to forge them on through lifetimes to come, through everything that could ever be. As long as they knew this of each other, they would have everything they'd ever need in the world:

He believed in her, too.

**Awww. 3 Isn't that sweet? REMINDER: This is the SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER OF TAOT! The third book will be posted as a **_**separate story! Not as part of this one! It will be under the Ninjago section as NfaN: …. (insert whatever the title is in all caps.) **_**Okay? Some misconceptions about that for SHADOW DANCER, just handing out an honest reminder. XD**

**Now, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review, tell me what you think, scream at your greens, ETC.—and go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the FINAL CHAPTER OF TAOT! ^^**

**-Kairi **


	26. Chapter 25: ALL IS HELL THAT ENDS WELL

**You guys! D': It's the final chapter of **_**book two **_**of the "Nightmares for a Ninja" series, "The Autumn of Twilight"! I just want to say you've all been awesome so far throughout my NfaN journey without all the awesomely nice things you say and your amazing compliments and ideas and suggestions and everything—without you, I wouldn't be here enjoying myself today, sharing my writing with the world. I thank you guys so much for being there to read my FanFiction. Each and every one of you are amazing. I love you guys for it. :] The whole series so far has received over **_**two hundred reviews—**_**I never expected that much, and that's all from awesome readers like you. So I hope you like NfaN enough to continue reading it throughout the rest of its life, and I hope you like my finale of "The Autumn of Twilight". Thanks again you guys. XD**

THE AUTUMN OF TWILIGHT

25. _All is Hell That Ends Well_

IN THE DREARIEST OF DIMENSIONS, a cool spite was awakening. The land was sprawled with red dirt by the pounds, covering every square inch as far as the eye can see, distancing over these curves of the earth under the pale moonlight of the eternal blood moon above. From the sky fell trillions of small, windblown pieces of ash, drifting across the sky, landing at angles on objects jutting from the ground. This sky in which is dark, far darker than that of the bright light of the four suns in the Elemental Realm, has never seen any light truer than that of its two, red moons. If one looks farther into the distance, they can just barely see the jagged edges of red mountains in the shadowed distance. This is where the Throne hides, uninhabited by its rightful suitor. Dreary creatures that live in this place murmur amongst themselves at the lack of leader to their land, and question the true potential of what their king has ever really been.

Fine over the hills where these creatures gather, many times far away, cries the sky from no cloud nor burst of hot and cold air's combination. Among the ash twirls the equally as gruesome droplets of rain that come to the form of blood, deriving from those special who bleed in the seconds that it falls. However, once it reaches this dimension it is no longer blood but a sacred substance, a fluid of great Powers that all clamber and kill to have taste of. It's said this liquid can answer all wishes, can mend all wounds and rid all faults, though one can hardly sort through the rumors and truths. Not a single drop has fallen for trillions of years, yet this day rings special in the echoes of the Celestial Timeline, a date to be recorded on future calendars as a holiday, though that exists only in the mortal's Realm.

There are two bodies in which do not belong resting in this dreary abandoned, hilly enclave of land. They are motionless, though not yet corpses. There are muffled heartbeats that which do not ring throughout what mortals call _sound _in their world. There is no true identification that these bodies ever truly neither lived nor existed; it is difficult to ascertain whether or not they are actually there or if somehow a trick of moonlight. How they were transported there it is unknown, yet a secret to be revealed.

With each droplet of the Powerful fluid to the skin of these forms, there is a strength that grows. It is made up of distant emotions that are detached and no longer hold significance, yet in one of the two, emotion is all that can be felt. To humans, this is what they call a _she. _In this Realm _she _would be referred to as something completely otherwise, but we won't get into great detail of that now.This is the one who will wake last. Resting against the chest of a _he, _face pressed into the soft silk of his clothing, she breathes softly, her insides a bursting vortex of what emotion feels like. She feels everything.

Yet he feels nothing. His insides are hollow. He doesn't remember what it's like to _feel, _nor know what it is to _feel. _Beneath the young maiden's ear his heart quickens to beat. There is something of a ghost of determination that lingers at the edge of the world inside his stalled mind, wanting to weave in yet refusing to. Inside his mind memories are becoming a thick string of events that are slowly becoming the Celestial Timeline, something surely you will know well and tell to your children when you exist in the far, far future; everything he knows leading up to this one moment. They flash inside his mind quickly as he pictures faces of those he once loved in the palm of his hand. The face of a young boy with dark brown hair and confident brown eyes and a small, wrinkled old woman with kind blue eyes beneath lenses. _Kai. Misako._

Dim thoughts begin to form in his haze as she snuggles closer to him, trapped in her own nightmares as he witnesses his own. The hooded dark figure of a power-crazy demon skirts through his mind, close enough to touch, yet far away enough to only dream of. He knows, distantly, he must do what he can to destroy this person with scaled claws, stained with the blood of the lives he's taken. The thoughts he's struggled to form now thrive within him, four simple words he took so long to define:

_It is my destiny. _

With this, though there is no emotion, the determination at the edge flickers its face into view.

Beneath the heavy dust and decay of ash and dirt, there's a stirring. A shifting. A first breath taken. A fist clenching, bearing the powerful mark of the Eye, only strengthened by the blood-rain pouring from the sky in slow, steady drops.

And there is another thought taken so seriously to form. Five letters. Five letters that have more truth and strength in them than anything, putting a face into the grim darkness around him. It becomes, out of these distant thoughts, a name. A destiny. The Future.

_Lloyd._

**I want to know what you thought of "The Autumn of Twilight"! Please **_**please **_**review and tell me your favorite parts, your least favorite parts, your favorite lines, anything—I want to know what you thought of the whole book **_**and **_**the grand finale. Don't forget to ****stay tuned ****for the next book in the NfaN series, premiering sometime this week, called, "the Kingdom of Death," which ****WILL BE POSTED AS A SEPARATE STORY!**** (under Ninjago, with the format of "NfaN: THE KINGDOM OF DEATH") Okay? Okay. Thank you guys again SO MUCH, and go have an **_**awesome **_**day/night! **


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